


Pridem Vidit

by Monti_B_Lewis



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: BrOT4, Fluff, Gen, Mindfuck, Spoiler-ish for later chapters of the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-09-26 18:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9915728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monti_B_Lewis/pseuds/Monti_B_Lewis
Summary: Memories of distant pasts long forgotten and futures yet discovered haunt Noctis' dreams, slowly gnawing away at his sanity. As he slips further and further, losing his grip on reality more with each day, his friends are clueless on what to do to help him. How are they supposed to fight against the ghosts whispering to Noctis at night?





	1. Quilted

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first uploaded story in a really long time, so I'm honestly kinda nervous. 
> 
> There will be hints at events from later chapters of the game, but they might not even register as such if you haven't played through the story yet. Please be mindful of that anyway.

The sun had only just begun to peak over the horizon, the sky a pale dusty blue. The soft sounds of cartoon swords shooting magic underlined by dramatic music filled a small tent, as the light of day slowly began shining through the entrance flaps. 

Prompto clicked his tongue when a particularly difficult boss was about to slaughter his game character. Hands shaking, tongue between his teeth, adrenaline was rushing through his veins. The boss had 50 points of health left, but his character wasn't faring much better. If he took one more hit, it was over. Just a little more and–

The sound of Noctis suddenly gasping and shooting up into an upright position from where he had been sleeping made Prompto damn near drop his phone. "Awww no!" he whined, when he heard the telltale jingle signalling his character had died. "Noct! I just died cause of you! What–" His words were cut off by the sight Noctis provided: forehead damp with sweat, chest heaving, his entire body shaking with a slight tremor. But most important and striking of all, his _eyes_. Prompto could never get used to the way they changed color whenever Noctis activated his powers, from icy blue to a vibrant glowing magenta. 

But this was different. What he was seeing wasn't the haunting magenta Prompto knew. He could barely identify the colours, so fast they were changing, rapidly going from deep blue to fiery red to foam green and yellow and back. It was disturbing, to say the least. "N-Noct? You okay, buddy?"

Noctis didn't seem to have heard him. He seemed entirely occupied with staring ahead at nothing, wide-eyed and gasping for air.

"Hey… you're scaring me. What's going on?" When he reached out for his friend's shoulder, Prompto made a surprised noise when Noctis flinched in response, flashing eyes suddenly focusing on the blond. "Uh… morning?" Prompto laughed nervously, entirely unable to mask his uneasiness.

Finally, Noctis seemed lucid. His eyes were back to normal, looking black in the semi-darkness of the tent. Letting out another sharp breath, he pushed the blanket off himself and ran a hand through his hair. "What time is it?" he asked in his usual tired drawl. As though he hadn't just scared the living daylights out of Prompto by way of rainbow death laser eyes.

"Around eight." Prompto was still trying to calm his racing heart, wondering if he had actually seen what he thought he saw. Noctis hadn't been using any sort of royal magic mumbo jumbo, so there had been no reason for his eyes to do that. "Surprised you're awake at this hour. Without anyone having to wake you up, no less." He fully expected Noctis to mumble something inaudible, before inevitably going back to sleep until Ignis decided they had wasted enough time and came to wake him back up. Like usual.

But Noctis did not go back to sleep. In fact, he simply put on his jacket and left the tent. Before Prompto! Who usually spent half an hour or so waking up properly by playing games or going through his photos. Staring after the prince in disbelief, Prompto followed suit, already dressed and mostly ready for the day to come. He came out and found both Gladiolus and Ignis giving him matching looks of surprise, all wondering what had happened to suddenly rouse the prince enough that he was up so soon. At eight! In the morning! Without anyone furiously shaking him for twenty minutes!

Before anyone could ask, Noctis mumbled a "Taking a walk", before walking towards the forest. " _Alone_ ," he added, when he could hear Ignis already opening his mouth to argue with him. There wasn't much anyone could say against that. They all trusted their prince enough to know that he wouldn't get offed by anything while talking a walk. If there was anything truly dangerous, they would be able to hear it. Or so they hoped.

"So uh…" Once both Gladiolus and Ignis were able to tear their eyes away from the sight of their liege leaving, Prompto chuckled nervously, "is it normal for Noct's eyes to go kinda uh… _crazy_?"

"What do you mean?" Ignis asked sharply, thinly veiled nervous energy already lining his words.

"You know… kinda… like stage lights at a rave."

"Iggy wouldn't know about something like that, Prompto," Gladiolus retorted with a small grin. "But yeah, that definitely doesn't sound good. I've never seen that before."

"Unfortunately, neither have I," Ignis admitted, the nervous energy now seeming to pulse off of him in waves. "Are you sure it wasn't simply a trick of the light or something similar?"

"I…" Really, Prompto wasn't sure. It easily could have been some kind of mind thing where the flashing lights from his game had caused some weird phenomenon where, when Prompto had looked up, the colours had somehow overlapped with Noctis' eyes and made it look like they were rapidly morphing through colours. But no matter how hard he tried reasoning with himself, there really was no explanation. Prompto had definitely seen Noctis' eyes going up and down the entire rainbow of colours, shifting and flashing like insane Christmas lights. "Yeah, pretty sure." He paused for a moment, trying and failing to come up with some kind of sensible explanation. "I think he had a nightmare. It must have disturbed him enough that he couldn't go back to sleep. He got up pretty much the moment he woke up. I've never seen that before."

"Same here," Gladiolus sighed, Ignis shaking his head.

"We need to keep an eye on him," Ignis eventually muttered. "More than usual."

* * *

It became very clear, very fast that something was off. _Very_ off. 

The group had decided to go on a few hunts to fill up their skinny wallets and be able to sleep in a motel again after days of camping, to Gladiolus' sole dismay. It wasn't immediately obvious that something was wrong, since Noctis was always quiet, but somehow he was even quieter than usual. Not that he was saying less, but in the way he seemed separate from the group, like he was lost in his own world rather than being hyper aware of his surroundings like usual. 

Of course he would drift off sometimes, sure, who doesn't? But when it came to hunting, his sharp instincts and quick reactions were some of the main things keeping their group unharmed during most hunts. He _was_ their leader in a way after all. He would shout out orders whenever needed, otherwise leaving everyone to their own fights, occasionally teaming up to deal more damage to a single enemy. They rarely had to or _could_ come up with some kind of battle plan. The battle started once Noctis silently warpstriked an enemy in a surprise attack. After that it was usually entirely improvised, a free-for-all. Everyone picked out their number of enemies to take down, Noctis warping around the battlefield to wherever he wasn't going to accidentally hurt his own friends by swinging around weapons pulled from thin air.

That was how they worked and fought together day in day out, with calm teamwork fine-tuned after dozens and dozens of battles together. But today was different. 

Their first bounty was easy: a pack of Yellowtooth terrorising farmers on the outskirts of Duscae. It took some time to drive all the way out there, but they eventually got to a massive farm that grew a multitude of vegetables and kept livestock. There, a young worker with mud-soiled hands pointed out the direction in the forests where the Yellowtooth usually came from. They had barely set foot into the mossy ground of the forest, before Noctis warped away and vanished, only the sound of his weapons hitting flesh and bones guiding them to where he was. By the time they arrived, he was surrounded by the pack of Yellowtooth dead in the grass, blood lightly splashed over his forearms. Once his sword shattered into glowing shards and disappeared, he glanced at the back of his hand and the blood splatters on his fair skin. It took a moment, but eventually he walked back and past his friends, heading straight back to the car. Silently, without ever saying a word.

"He seems…"

"Quiet," Ignis finished Gladiolus' sentence.

"He usually is," Prompto tried to argue. "I mean… yeah, he's a bit… off today, but…" He trailed off, still unable to reason away his or anyone else's concerns.

"Has he always been this… _swift_?" Gladiolus wondered. "Usually it takes us at least a minute or so to take that many enemies down, even if they're weak. And it's not like he loves fighting so much that he would jump in there just to start before we can join. So why…?"

Suffice to say, the car ride to the next bounty was unusually sombre, even with Prompto trying to chat up Noctis. Oddly enough, Noctis didn't nap in the car like usual, despite having used up some magic by warping around. 

By the time they reached the location of their next bounty, the sun was disappearing behind the horizon again. Which was perfect, considering they were going to try and clear out an entire cave of goblins. And yet again, Noctis managed to defy everyone's expectations. Instead of warping in and rushing the enemies like usual, he stood still, staring at a group of cackling goblins in front of the pitch black cave entrance with unfocused eyes. 

Before Prompto could lightly tap Noctis on the shoulder and ask what was wrong, a high-pitched shriek made them all flinch. A goblin was jumping at Gladiolus out of thick bushes still moist from an earlier shower. In one fell swoop, the bodyguard swung down his massive greatsword and easily smacked the goblin into the uneven grassy ground, the sound of its flesh tearing and its thin bones cracking echoing in an unsettling way. 

Gladiolus was about to make one of his triumphant and snarky comments, when he saw the look of horror on Noctis's face, the colour visibly draining out of his face. He seemed to waver where he stood, eyes glued to the dead goblin as it began to dissipate into sparks and a deep black fog, eventually disappearing as if it had never even existed. He stepped back as though trying to escape, shaking his head slightly. It was as though he was seeing something no one else could see, hearing things only he could hear. 

"This is wrong," he suddenly mumbled to himself. "We can't do this. But…" 

"Noct," Ignis gingerly placed a hand on the prince's back, trying to soothe him. "What's wrong?"

Finally snapping back to reality, Noctis' eyes connected with those of his friends. "Nothing, just…" Expression slowly morphing into the familiar face of abject aloofness, Noctis strode towards the group of goblins. "It's nothing."

"Huh…" Gladiolus huffed out, more surprised than worried. "That was odd."

Ignis sighed, a headache seeming to develop with the way he was nursing his temples. Prompto wasn't off much better, wondering what could be causing these odd occurrences. Was it all because of a nightmare? A nightmare that had made Noctis' eyes flash strange colours?

"Guys…" the blond spoke up as they all headed for where Noctis had already slain half of the goblins, "I think we need to really figure out what's wrong, and _quick_. I have a bad feeling that this is just gonna get worse." 

For once, the other two fully agreed with the younger man, silently nodding as they materialised their weapons.

* * *

And worse it got.

Usually a sack of potatoes when asleep, capable of falling asleep in two seconds flat whenever he got the chance, Noctis would not and could not sleep peacefully. He tossed and turned, slipped in and out of a half asleep state, completely incapable of sleeping peacefully like he usually did. Adding to that the fact that they were all cramped together in a tent that just barely fit them all inside and it was clear why _none_ of them could sleep that night. 

"Noct, if you don't quit rolling around every ten seconds, I will knock you over the head with a titanium shield, prince of Lucis or not."

"Gladio!" Ignis immediately protested.

"If that's gonna make me sleep, then sure go ahead." Noctis sounded frustrated. He was a simple man. All he needed was two things: vegetable-less food and sleep. Take one of those away and you have a very disgruntled prince.  

"We could've just checked into a motel," Prompto sulked. "Longwythe wasn't _that_ far away."

"It would have taken an hour," Ignis immediately retorted. "Driving in the dark is–"

" _Perilous and not recommended._ " Prompto didn't have to see Ignis' face in the dark to know the man was shooting a little glare at him. "We know, man."

"Need I remind you of the time when our dear prince insisted on driving through the night, then crashed the car when a Red Giant appeared, upon which we had to _abandon_ the Regalia and _walk_ to the next town?"

Sighing, Prompto's sulky frown only deepened. "No…" he mumbled.

Seemingly annoyed by the back and forth arguing, Noctis suddenly got up and left the tent after throwing on a coat. The other three remained, all unsure on what to do. 

"I'll go talk to him," Prompto sighed, not even bothering with a jacket and simply wrapping his blanket around himself as he exited the tent. 

He didn't have to search for Noctis for long; he found him sitting on one of the large rocks surrounding the rune-adorned campsite, eyes trained on the glistening night sky. The moon glowed down on him imposingly, large and foreboding, like it was going to devour every living being on the planet. Prompto had planned on simply walking up to his friend, engaging him in some light chatter, maybe itching some real talk out of him eventually. Like usual. But somehow he had a feeling that wouldn't work today. 

Noctis looked young. Prompto had always known Noctis as someone who was somewhat immature and whiny, but he had never seen him like this: completely unguarded, with the world around him looking like it was about to swallow him whole. Being the prince, Noctis usually commanded respect even with his mere presence, whether he wanted to or not. He had a certain royal aura to him that he couldn't shake no matter how much he hated it. But Prompto couldn't see any of that right now. And when Noctis lowered his head and pulled his knees to his chest, he looked like a lost child. Powerless and small.

It broke Prompto's heart to see his friend like this and not even know what the cause was. Heart rate increasing slightly, the blond slowly walked up to the prince, opting to silently sit down next to him on the cold damp rock until Noctis acknowledged him. He wasn't sure if Noctis was even aware of his presence or if he was being ignored on purpose. Either way, he was going to stay until he got his attention. The prince didn't have much patience after all. 

It took a minute or two, but eventually Noctis spoke. "What?"

Anyone else would have been offended at the tone, assuming Noctis was being arrogant and rude. But Prompto knew better. "What's wrong?"

Noctis seemed a bit taken aback by the blunt question, not used to this kind of serious tone from Prompto. He briefly met the other's eyes, looking away again almost immediately. 

"Don't say _nothing_ ," Prompto cut in before Noctis could inevitably deny that anything was off. "We all know that's not true."  

A sharp sigh left Noctis, the prince obviously disgruntled at having to talk at all. He shook his head, looking unsure of himself. "I don't know, okay. It's no use asking. I can't explain."

"Try," Prompto insisted. "At least do me that favour."

Releasing another frustrated sigh, a trademark Noctis move, the prince caved. He was silent for a while, struggling to put words to his thoughts. "It's as if the world… _shifted_. Like I'm looking at everything not as myself, but… from someone else's perspective. Through someone else's eyes and I… I can't…" His eyes suddenly went unfocused again, trained on nothing in particular, yet looking to be staring at something far away. "I look at you guys and I can't… I…" He trailed off for a moment, thoughts seeming to race through his mind, back and forth at neck-breaking speeds. "Then I look at daemons…" 

Prompto wasn't a therapist. It was completely outside of his capabilities to decipher what Noctis was talking about right now. They usually understood each other easily, able to have conversations that were almost entirely Prompto interpreting a tired Noctis' fractured responses and babbling enough for them both. But Prompto didn't know how to deal with this. Maybe someone smart like Ignis would have been better for this after all. He almost wanted to get up and get the advisor, but decided against it when he noticed Noctis looking at him. Looking at him almost desperately, wanting some kind of answer. Wanting him to decipher what he was saying, make him understand himself better. The way Prompto always did. 

"Okay, look at my face," Prompto suddenly demanded, waiting until confused blue eyes focused entirely on him. "See this huge pimple between my eyebrows?" He pointed at where he knew a huge angry red bump sat on his forehead. "That's real as fuck. Just remember that. You're here, I'm here and this pimple is gonna be here for another two or three days until I inevitably try to pop it and permanently scar my face in the process because I'm stupid and I gotta pop that shit when I see it get all white and disgusting."

"You shouldn't pop your pimples," Noctis retorted flatly.

"Easy for you to say, Mr. Perfect Skin. Ignis would probably freak and slap ointments and luxury creams on you if you ever got even just a hint of acne."

"I have birthmarks and stuff too, you know," Noctis grumbled, eyebrows pulling together into a slight disgruntled frown. "I don't have perfect skin." 

"Oh okay, so you would trade with me then?" Prompto immediately quipped. "I get your skin and you get mine?" 

Noctis seemed to consider it for a moment. "I wouldn't look as cute with freckles. Not the type."

A heavy sigh tore from Prompt's chest as he let his head drop in a defeated manner. "Only you can insult and compliment people in one sentence."

"How is calling you _cute_ an insult?" 

"I'm _manly_!" Prompto shouted, sitting up straight and puffing out his chest. 

Noctis smirked, a light breeze ruffling his hair. "Oh yeah, really manly. Nothing more manly than being wrapped in a fluffy polka dot blanket."

"Hey! Being manly isn't all about being big and muscly!" Prompto protested, wearing his fluffy blanket with pride. "It's about being confident in your masculinity! My masculinity isn't so fragile that it would ever be hurt by a fluffy blanket!" 

"Sounds like something an unmanly cutie would say."

Sulking, Prompto glared at Noctis. "I never should have told you how much I hate being called _cute_." 

"But then I would have less ammunition to tease you with."

"Oh, I apologise for my impudence, _your Highness_. I didn't mean to imply that you should ever lower your battle capabilities for my sake."

"Stop that," Noctis immediately grumbled with a look of sheer distaste.

Prompto's bright laugh was carried away by the wind, loud and clear enough to be heard for quite a distance. "Let's just agree that we both have some deeply rooted self-image issues and that we won't use them to tease each other."

Noctis begrudgingly answered with a "Deal", bumping fists with Prompto to seal the agreement.

They chatted for a few more minutes after that, Noctis eventually growing sleepy enough that Prompto had to drag him back to the tent. By the time he dumped the prince inside, he was already asleep. Wheezing from having had to half-carry a deadweight of a future king, Prompto glanced around the tent to find Ignis and Gladiolus both sending him sleepy, yet thankful looks, the blond giving them a triumphant thumbs up in return. 

The night continued on peacefully after that, with none of them knowing what the morning would have to offer.

* * *

The morning was bad. 

There was no other way to describe it. Noctis woke up before anyone else after a mere four hours of sleep, in distress, sweating and making pained noises. Breathing seemed to hurt him, his skin burning, feverish, like it was going to melt off his flesh. He was in pain. 

The first to wake up at the commotion was Ignis, his eyes shooting open the second he heard Noctis make a distressed noise. Gladiolus and Prompto followed soon after, joining Ignis in trying to hold the now flailing prince down so he wouldn't hurt himself. His hands kept flying up to his neck and face, where he had already slightly scratched his skin open in places. 

"Is he still sleeping?" Prompto asked in a panic-tinged voice. "Do we need to wake him up?"

Without another word, Ignis began shaking Noctis while still holding him down, trying desperately to rouse him out of sleep. "Noct! Noct! Wake up! Noct!" 

The other two joined in on the shouting, all three struggling to keep the prince down despite two of them being significantly larger than him.  

Suddenly, Noctis jerked awake, eyes shooting open, the prince sharply sucking in a breath. His eyes flashed up briefly, but it was gone so quickly that no one could tell if it was the usual magenta or the changing of colours Prompto had witnessed. The three breathed a sigh of relief once Noctis finally stopped struggling, allowing them to let go and take a deep breath to calm their racing hearts and nerves. It was Ignis who first noticed that something was off.

"Noct?" he asked cautiously, concerned eyes focused on the still form of the prince. Shaking his shoulder didn't catch his attention. In fact, _nothing_ seemed to be catching his attention. "Gladio, help me sit him up."

Concern also seeping into Gladiolus' expression, he assisted Ignis in carefully grabbing Noctis' arms and back to pull him up into a sitting position. And although Noctis _looked_ awake, capable of staying upright on his own, he didn't seem quite right.

"Noct?" Prompto tried this time, waving a hand in front of Noctis' vacant eyes. "What's going on? What's wrong with him?" He looked to Ignis for some kind of answer, but his heart sank when he found the same panic and fear that he felt in Ignis' green eyes.

"Let's… Let's give him some time," Ignis murmured. "He should come around eventually." He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than actually believing what he was saying. Somehow his words got to Noctis, because the brunet suddenly turned his head towards him. But Ignis never got to feel a sense of relief at the action, because immediately he realised that Noctis wasn't looking at him properly. He was looking through him, like he was staring at something far away that no one but him could see. It was as though he lived on another plain of existence, present but not really.

Prompto dared again to shake him carefully, hoping it would maybe bring his friend back. "Noct, come on…" Sighing heavily, he suddenly got to his feet and grabbed Noctis by the arms. Putting on a bright expression, he pulled Noctis up and out of the tent, the prince going along on somewhat shaky legs. "Come on, if you're awake, you might as well get some fresh air!"

It seemed to do the trick, because after ten minutes of Prompto jerking Noctis around and babbling at him non-stop, Ignis and Gladiolus chiming in every now and then, the prince eventually seemed to return to reality. He complained about his empty stomach, Ignis already working on breakfast. Noctis and Prompto fell into idle chat, playing King's Knight to pass the time waiting for food. When they were both engrossed in playing, Gladiolus walked up to Ignis where he was cooking at the mini grill. 

"So Noct used to have night terrors as a kid, right?" the bodyguard murmured, trying to pass it off as a nonchalant question should the other two notice him. 

"Only for a few weeks after…" Ignis didn't want to finish the sentence; even now it still pained him to talk about it. And he didn't have to. Gladiolus knew what he meant. "He would wake up screaming and crying. Sometimes it took hours to get him back to sleep and even then he wouldn't sleep peacefully. We had to… medicate him on particularly difficult nights. Even so… it was never anything quite like this. No matter how tired he is, he has never…"

There was a brief flash of pain across Gladiolus' features, before he clapped a hand on his friend's back. "He'll be fine. He's gone through worse in the past."

 _And he will in the future_.

The thought lingered in both their minds. They didn't know what the future held, but they couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't nice.

* * *

After another day of successful hunting, the group finally made a stop in a Lestallum bathed in the orange light of the setting sun. They split up into two groups, Ignis and Noctis shopping for ingredients and curatives, while Gladiolus and Prompto stopped by a few weapon shops to finally buy some new gear. Especially Gladiolus' greatsword was beginning to chip and looked like it would snap with a few more heavy slashes. 

Later, they all met up at the Leville Hotel and checked in while the sky was still dipped in bright pinks and oranges. It didn't take long for all of them to settle in and go through their haul for the day. Gladiolus was inspecting his new greatsword, cleaning it with trained hands and thoroughly polishing it, even though they all knew it wouldn't stay that pristine for long. Ignis was counting their remaining gil, calculating and planning how to spend it over the next few days; especially considering they were about to explore an infamous cave system in the Duscaen forests. Meanwhile, Prompto was helping Noctis go through their inventory, counting curatives and other supplies, while Noctis went through their weapons and gear. Prompto was considerably slower, since he couldn't just rapidly sift through all their equipment like Noctis could. He had to actually grab everything out of thin air and count one by one, still not quite on Noctis' level in terms of magic. Noctis did control their entire inventory somehow, able to put things in some kind of infinite magical space, where the others could pull it out at will. It was magic that had saved their lives a dozen times over in battles.

"We should have sold some of these accessories," Noctis mumbled after a while, twirling three thin metal bracelets around a finger. "We have eight or nine of these things and we barely use them."

Prompto took one of the bracelets out of Noctis' hands, inspecting it closely. "I'd feel kinda bad though." When Noctis gave him a bland look, Prompto was forced to elaborate. "You know… selling off something that used to belong to someone else. We picked up most of these things from the ground somewhere. Where a hunter or normal person dropped it. It's kinda… dunno… I feel odd taking these and using them, not to mention _sell_ them."

"They're made to help us survive," Gladiolus chimed in, not even looking up from where he was brushing a cloth over his sword. "They're useless unless someone puts them on and uses them."

"I know… but still…" Looking at the bracelet more closely, Prompto found little scratches and marks that made the bracelet unique. Someone had used this for quite a while; had survived time and time again thanks to this. They had either lost this or…

"Whose are these?" Noctis suddenly asked with a strange edge to his voice. Not quite angry, but also not his usual neutral tone. 

Everyone paused what they were doing to look at what he was talking about. Noctis was holding a pair of exotic-looking knives, masterfully crafted and definitely expensive. And he was looking at them as though they were somehow poisoned.

"These aren't mine!" he suddenly shouted, visibly aggravated.

"Calm down," Ignis urged him, setting down the pouch of gil he had been holding, silver gloves glinting in the dim lighting of the room. "We probably just bought them from a weapons trader somewhere."

"These aren't mass-produced knives," Noctis insisted. "I can tell. I know where we got every single weapon in our arsenal. I know… I _know_ my weapons. But these…"

"Wait a second…" Gladiolus suddenly interrupted, letting his new greatsword disintegrate to rush over to Noctis and take the knives out of his hands. "Yeah, these don't look mass-produced. They're handcrafted. Custom." He ran a finger over the intricate engravings on the hilts. "These are kukris, but… I feel like I've seen them before." He turned them over in his hands a few times, expertly throwing them up and catching them again. "Definitely made in Insomnia… Pretty sure they were made by the guy who forges weapons for the Kingsglaive. Good, _durable_ weapons. And judging by these little chips and markings, they look like they belong to someone pretty strong in the Kingsglaive. Not sure who. Don't really know many of those guys personally aside from Drautos."

"The Kingsglaive?" Prompto screeched, voice vibrating with tension. "Then aren't those really important? How would Noct have them?"

Wordlessly, Noctis took the kukris back from Gladiolus, taking a closer look at them. Something in his eyes changed the longer he did. Emotions swirled in his eyes, vibrant, yet unreadable. "Whoever these belonged to… is dead. I don't– I can't…" 

"Keep them," Ignis suddenly spoke up, focusing calm eyes on the prince. "There must be a reason why you have them. They couldn't have ended up with you by mistake."

"You don't understand," Noctis suddenly hissed. "You don't… I can hear it. I can…"

"Hear what?" Prompto asked, trying to make the question seem casual and innocent. It didn't work.

"The…" Noctis trailed off, apparently deciding against answering that question. He let out a shaky sigh, letting the kukris shatter into glimmering pieces of light and disappear. "I'm taking a nap."

No one tried to argue with him. 

Looking at the prince as he flopped onto a bed and didn't fall asleep right away, the other three all felt the same nagging fear eating away at something deep in their mind. They couldn't quite place it, still. But something was happening to Noctis. And they couldn't do anything about it. 

* * *

Days passed by and still Noctis didn't improve. He was only getting worse, actually. Sleeping less and less, becoming more and more nonsensical. Most of the time things seemed normal. But occasionally he would mumble to himself, say things that made sense to him, but no one else. He was hiding things from them, so they couldn't even judge the full extent of his unwinding. Noctis clearly knew that something was wrong with him, hence why he was still desperately trying to portray the image of the aloof prince they all knew. Sometimes they let him and sometimes they didn't. Neither seemed to really affect his overall state.

They had called off their expedition of the caves in Leide, which they had been planning for an entire week; despite Noctis' protests, of course. This was one time where even the prince's word held no water. With his advisor, bodyguard and best friend all refusing to go until they could figure out what was wrong with him, any larger operations and hunts were off. Obviously, that didn't sit well with Noctis. He had stopped talking to them altogether, angry and frustrated that his own friends deemed him _this_ much of a risk.

"Is he still moping?" Prompto asked from the front seat of the Regalia, turning around to sneakily look for himself. 

"You bet," Gladiolus sighed, also sneaking a glance and finding Noctis with his arms still crossed and a permanent frown etched into his features. "Think he'll cave and talk to us again by the end of the day?"

"He has had longer temper tantrums than that," Ignis added, glasses glinting deviously in the sunlight. He knew exactly what buttons to push with Noctis. "We should be prepared to have him be mute for a few days."

"Seriously?!" A groan left Prompto at the prospect of potentially not having his best friend to talk to for days. "Noct, come on! Talk to us! You _know_ we're not gonna give in." Noctis shot him a _look_ , which elicited a long, drawn out sigh from Prompto. "Don't be so stubborn, man. We're just worried about you. You'd do the same with us." The little eye roll Noctis did didn't escape him. "Hey, hey! Don't you remember that time I sprained my ankle during P.E. and you yelled at me for still playing basketball cause I didn't want us to lose? You went full mother hen mode on me! You could seriously rival Ignis, you hypocrite!" 

Ignis cleared his throat at the words, but whether it was at the _mother hen_ comment or Prompto practically insulting the next king was unclear. 

"I'm serious!" Prompto continued. "Do I have to threaten you? Hey, did you just grin? You're not taking me serious, are you!" Prompto grumbled to himself, sulking, before putting on his most threatening face. He quickly glanced at Ignis, then went back to glaring at Noctis again. "Remember that night on last New Years, Noct?"

Had Noctis had water in his mouth, he would have done a spit take. His usually half-lidded, tired eyes were suddenly almost bulging out of his skull. 

Taking a hand off the steering wheel, Ignis pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Noct… wasn't that when you were _supposedly_ sick in bed for several days?" 

Ignis' tone sent chills down everyone's spines. They all watched fearfully as Ignis very slowly curled and uncurled his fingers around the steering wheel, the leather of his black gloves creaking.

"Mind elaborating on that, Prompto?" Ignis' words were clipped and sharp like the hum of a razor-thin blade. "I'm quite curious about that night."

Gulping, nothing but regret shone in Prompto's baby blue eyes. "Uuh… never mind."

"No, no, go on." Ignis' tone was casual, but the underlying threat of his words was clear. "Tell me about that night. _In detail_."

Shooting a half apologetic, half challenging look at Noctis, Prompto hesitated. "Sorry, Noct, Ignis is way scarier than you. No point trying to intimidate me with that look. You won't talk, so…" He almost chuckled at how hard the prince was trying to wordlessly convince him to keep his mouth shut. "Noct snuck out and got blackout drunk with me at a g–" 

Prompto never got to finish that sentence. Noctis had jumped out of his seat and grabbed the blond by the head, muffling him with one hand and using the other one to drag him out of the passenger seat and towards the backseats. Prompto ended up in Gladiolus' lap kicking and flailing, furiously throwing out his arms to try and hold on to something, _anything_.

"Noct, we're in a moving car!" Gladiolus bellowed, nearly getting kicked in the face by one of Prompto's flailing legs. 

Despite the commotion, Ignis simply continued driving, expression still stony. "I suppose crashing the car and dying in an accident would result in a hefty blow to our wallets."

Gladiolus released a sigh, shoving Prompto entirely off himself and onto Noctis. "Great, you guys broke Ignis." 

Situated almost entirely in Noctis' lap now, face flushed red in embarrassment up to his ears, Prompto tried his hardest to somehow squeeze in between the two men instead; also get Noctis' arms off him. "Geff off mph!" He went almost completely still when Noctis suddenly hissed into his ear, a cold shiver crawling down his back.

"If you say a word about that night, I swear I will throw a unicast so powerful it will kill you with all the elemental wrath of my ancestors _ten_ times over." 

Prompto went unusually still in Noctis' lap. The red drained out of his face, leaving him somewhat pale. Even Gladiolus looked surprised at how rigid he suddenly seemed.

"Are you _crying_?!" Gladiolus suddenly exclaimed, catching a glance of Prompto's red, watery eyes.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?!" the blond immediately burst out, somehow slipping off Noctis' lap and into the tiny gap between the prince and his bodyguard in the process. "If I _don't_ say anything, Ignis is gonna murder me in my sleep, but if I _do_ say anything, Noct is gonna blow ancient magic up my ass!" 

"You got yourself into this, buddy." Gladiolus threw his hands up in a dismissive manner, only to reach for his chest a moment later, clicking his tongue. "For such a scrawny dude, your legs sure are strong. Kicked my own necklace into my damn chest." The black necklace around Gladiolus' neck had left behind a red cross-shaped mark.

"Oh! Sorry… I–" 

All four tensed up the second they heard the familiar rumbling of an approaching airship. And not just any airship.

"Magitek engine," Gladiolus growled, frowning. "Probably gonna drop an entire fleet of them."

And drop a fleet it did. Several yards in front of the Regalia actually, effectively blocking the street and forcing Ignis to stop the car.

"Of course," Prompto sighed, already jumping out of the car and materialising his guns before the wheels had even stopped moving. 

Gladiolus joined him in his dash for the enemies, while Prompto shot at one of the snipers, both intent on ending the fight quickly before anything could possibly happen to the Regalia. When neither Ignis or Noctis joined them even after a minute of fighting, they turned their attention towards the parked Regalia. There they found Ignis seemingly arguing with Noctis. Even from this distance they could tell how distressed the prince was, his terrified eyes flicking back and forth between Ignis and the lumbering, screeching Magitek soldiers. 

"Prompto, go see what's going on," Gladiolus ordered. "I can deal with the rest on my own."

Prompto stood still for only a second, his concern for Noctis overshadowing his hesitation to leave Gladiolus, especially when the tank of a man smashed two of the remaining tin heads into the sun-warmed asphalt of the street. He could still hear the man let out a triumphant whoop as he dashed back towards the car. 

"I can't!"

Noctis sounded frustrated. Angry. But more than anything, Prompto saw a spark of genuine fear in his friend's eyes. Like a child afraid of the dark. 

Meanwhile, Ignis was trying his hardest to soothe the prince. "We've fought them so many times," he said. "What is so different this time?"

"I don't know, I… I…!" Seeing Prompto run up to him seemed to trigger something within Noctis, muddled emotions dimming and some of his franticness fading. "I just… feel like we have to hide from them. Crawl into some dark corner where they can't see us."

Prompto gulped at the words, closing the remaining distance to stand beside Ignis. For once, he had no idea what to say.

"Have you guys never wondered where daemons go when they disappear?" Noctis suddenly spoke up after a moment of tense silence. His eyes were trained on something far away, unusually focused and full of undecipherable emotions. "Or why Magiteks seem to disappear the same way. They just go up in smoke or disappear into the earth. But it's not like they stop existing. They just go somewhere else."

Taking in a shaky breath, Prompto involuntarily began nervously wringing his hands. He had questions that he didn't want answers to.

"I can see where they came from. And where they go." 

Prompto had to bite his lip for fear of otherwise asking questions that he inevitably would regret ever uttering out loud. _Stop_. _Please, stop_.

"And one day…" As though he had said too much, Noctis suddenly went silent. Instead of finishing his sentence, Noctis opted instead to abruptly warp away, impaling the last of the Magitek soldiers with a massive spear.

"Iggy…" Prompto looked to Ignis for the answers that he needed. "What was he talking about?"

Seemingly back to the Noctis they knew, Gladiolus none the wiser, the prince reluctantly accepted a high five from his bodyguard, almost toppling over when the larger man swung with more power than necessary. 

"There was one time… when he was around six…" Ignis still seemed shaken, speaking in an even more tense tone than before. "We used to have a head cook, Ursa, who was very old. Noct liked him because he would sneak him candy and tell him stories from his younger days in the Crownsguard. Noct would constantly sneak out specifically to see _him_. But one day… he suddenly refused to go anywhere near the kitchen. And when anyone asked him about it, he would always say that he didn't want to see Ursa's heart explode. No matter how much candy he was promised, he wouldn't set foot in the kitchen. About a week passed like that and… suddenly Ursa died from a heart attack."

Prompto had listened to the story intently, his face now deathly pale, hands clammy and cold. 

"Once the king heard of this, he interrupted a diplomatic visit to Solheim to return to the palace for the sole purpose of locking himself and Noct in a room for approximately three hours. Ever since then, Noct has never spoken of such things again."

"You think–" 

"I'd rather not think about this any further."

"Yeah, ok," Prompto murmured. "You're right." 

Gladiolus and Noctis returned to them, both bickering about whose current kill count was higher, Gladiolus arguing that he was in the lead, since Noctis had only taken out one of the Magitek soldiers.

It was in that moment that both Ignis and Prompto felt truly afraid for Noctis.


	2. Quantum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention this in the first chapter, but I've been listening to "Claire de Lune" while writing this story. It almost became a ritual to turn it on whenever I started working on this. It's kinda hilarious how long it took me to see the parallels.

Despite the clear distaste in his eyes, Ignis pulled off his silver gloves and neatly folded, then placed them at the edge of the table. "We're not running low on ingredients for meals, so why…" He interrupted himself by sighing.

"You gotta splurge once in a while, man." Prompto was beaming as he gleefully bit into a burger, greasy sauce oozing out from the other side. "I appreciate your version of hamburgers, but the real deal is different after all."

Noctis made some kind of sound of agreement, too busy sneakily picking off the vegetables from his burger. He noticed Ignis staring at him with sharp eyes, a warning look in them, but pretended not to see his advisor's growing frustration.

"Noct…" Ignis warned, his tone foreboding. "You're not a kid anymore."

Instead of eating the vegetables he had picked off, Noctis proceeded to add them to Ignis' burger. 

"See, he knows how to share now!" Prompto flinched only a little bit when Ignis glared at him; too big was his mirth at seeing the usually so composed man despair like a suburban mom.

"So hey, about that forest…" Gladiolus had already inhaled five burgers and was in the process of unwrapping his sixth one. "I asked around a bit and apparently there's this weird legend about it. Something along the lines of it being cursed and anyone setting foot inside disappearing forever. And at night you can hear this ghostly wailing and screams and everything. I say we go see what's up."

Humming delightedly, Prompto seemed to savour every bite of his burger. "The one to the South, right?" he mumbled between bites. A hint of panic suddenly entered his voice. "That's a few hours away. If we leave right away, it's gonna be dark by the time we get there."

"Perfect." Now it was Gladiolus' turn to beam.

Prompto halted his worship of his double cheese burger, baby blue eyes turning icy. "You live to torture me, don't you?" 

In response, the larger man chuckled mirthfully. "Oh, by the way…" On his ninth burger now, Gladiolus balled up the wrapper and threw it into the growing pile of junk on the table. "Ignis, mind donating some gil so I can buy a new sword on the way? I think mine's gonna snap in half the next time I hit even just a Goblin with it."

There it was. The smallest fragment of a memory, a weak flash, disintegrating the moment Noctis reached for it. Like the remnants of a dream, it went up into an intangible trail of smoke and disappeared once he took notice of it. "But didn't we just…" 

"Huh?"

Seeing the look of mild confusion on everyone's faces, Noctis eventually shook his head. "No, nothing." 

Gladiolus shrugged, arguing with Ignis now about their remaining funds. When Prompto tried stealing a burger from one of the six or so that Gladiolus still had left, he found himself in a headlock from which no amount of kicking and complaining could free him.

Noctis watched his friends quietly, stomach full after three burgers. And again there was this sensation, this feeling of his mind shifting and twisting. As though he was watching a movie, the sounds he was hearing suddenly all too surreal, the red leather of the booth looking bizarre. He looked at each one of his companions, all of a sudden seeing them in a new light. _Is this what other people see when they look at them?_ When he locked eyes with Prompto on the other side of the booth, the blond finally out of Gladiolus' headlock, the other smirked at him. 

"So are we staying here till morning or what?" the blond asked, bouncing in his seat, expecting his _best friend_ to back him up.

"Nah, I agree with Gladio," Noctis replied, fighting hard to keep the mischievous smile off his face. "We should just head out and go into the forest when it's dark." He had to suppress a chuckle. The look of utter betrayal on Prompto's face was worth having Gladiolus practically screaming at the prince and smacking his shoulder over the table with greasy fingers. After a minute or two of Prompto staring at him with probably the most pitiful look he could muster, Noctis eventually buckled. "Ignis, think we have enough gil to rent a caravan?"

"Yes, I suppose," Ignis sighed, already seeming to have resolved himself to his fate of never being able to budget their funds the way he wanted to. 

With Prompto now back to his bright and happy self, idle conversation carried on until the sun began dipping behind majestic mountains and vast forests. 

"So… Gladio," Prompto was trying to sound nonchalant, but it was obvious he wasn't about to ask a simple and innocent question. "You ever gonna tell us how you got that new scar on your forehead?"

"Nope," was Gladiolus' simple answer as he sipped from his coke.

A heavy, disappointed sigh left Prompto, the blond visibly deflating. "I was looking forward to some kinda epic tale, but you never ended up telling us!" 

Gladiolus shrugged, a hint of a smile curling his lips. "Some tales are better left untold."

* * *

Noctis was staring at the skewered fish grilling in the campfire like they held all the answers to life and the universe. Prompto was actually counting the seconds. About seven minutes and twenty seconds had already passed with the prince listlessly watching the fish simmer. The flickering light of the fire created ever shifting shadows on his face, occasionally setting his eyes ablaze with a burning gold. With Ignis and Gladiolus both occupied gutting and cleaning the fish Noctis had caught in the early afternoon, Prompto was content watching Noctis watching the campfire. It wasn't quite late enough for a fire yet, but Gladiolus had insisted that they should eat the fish as quickly as possible to be able to taste it at its best. It was his way of celebrating Noctis' various impressive catches of the day, namely the enormous Nebula Salmon he had managed to drag out.

After another two minutes, Noctis finally seemed to regain his senses, briefly glancing around at his surroundings before settling on Prompto. Confusion quickly settled on his face. "Did you pop your pimple again?" he suddenly asked.

"Pimple?" Prompto touched his face in thought, softly running his fingertips over his cheeks where he usually got most of his bad pimples. "I don't think I've had any since we left Insomnia. Which is weird cause I always thought they were stress related. Might be the air or something."

Noctis was oddly silent, suddenly looking lost in thought yet again. After a moment of wordless staring, he did end up speaking up again before Prompto had the chance to. "Or the fact that you're not eating crappy food everyday anymore."

"Oh yeah, that's probably it." Finding joy in the realisation that there _was_ some good in leaving the big city, Prompto let out a happy laugh, noticing Noctis crack a half smile in response. "You're Mr. Perfect Skin, so I don't know if you can relate, but not having your face pissed off at you 24/7 is pretty great."

"I have birth marks and stuff too, you know," Noctis argued. "But I guess that would be annoying. I remember you always covering up your acne with makeup in second year of highschool."

"Well it was either that or being that acne kid that looks like his face is gonna melt off any second."  

"Dunno, I thought it was kinda cute." This time his lips curled into a full smile, especially when Prompto tried and failed to punch his arm, fist connecting with nothing but air. 

Their camping chairs were too far apart, resulting in Prompto standing up, picking his chair up along with him and plopping down right next to the prince. Then he punched Noctis' arm _again_ , properly this time, eliciting a half-hearted hiss of pain. "Kindly fuck off, _your Highness._ "

"Hey…" Rubbing the slight stinging pain out of his arm, Noctis left his chair to check on the fish. "Think these are about ready." Picking up all four of the grilled Trouts, he laid two on some plates on a little table, then returned to Prompto's side with the remaining two and handed one off.

"Thanks," Prompto mumbled, gleefully biting into his fish right away. "Shouldn't we tell them the fish are done?"

They both glanced at where Ignis and Gladiolus sat hunched over near a little stream, still working on preparing the fish.

Noctis shrugged, digging into his fish right away. 

"Yeah, why did I even ask?" Prompto laughed, figuring the prince probably didn't feel like raising his voice. He almost never did. To prevent an earful later on, the blond ended up texting Ignis, despite there being barely a ten second walk between them.

It took another minute or two, but eventually Ignis and Gladiolus joined them, albeit with a small scolding for texting them instead of just getting up and telling them in person. Throughout the verbal lashing, Prompto noticed Noctis looking calm, content almost. He had probably heard these sort of dry lectures from Ignis many times. Yet he looked almost happy to be reprimanded, something like fondness in his eyes when Ignis let out a frustrated sigh and sat down. 

It warmed Prompto's heart to see his friend like this and know that at least in this moment, everything was fine.

* * *

"Guys…" 

Perking up at Gladiolus raising his voice, both Noctis and Prompto looked up from where they had been playing at the Justice Monsters Five machines of the diner. 

There was an odd gleam to the man's eyes as he stared at some sort of paper. "Deadeye is back." 

The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees, a tense silence taking over the small diner. 

"Last time we fought him…" Prompto trailed off, thoughts muddling up with images of a grotesque, hissing beast stomping him into the ground, smacking Gladiolus several yards away with its massive paws, knocking Ignis unconscious with its tail, Noctis somewhere in the middle. Images of the prince desperately warping around, shouting orders in an attempt to keep their assault organised, his voice growing hoarse while the sun began disappearing behind the jagged edges of the Duscaen mountains. Images of a battle that had brought them closer to death than any other feverishly raced through Prompto's mind. 

"There's a 35,000 gil reward on him," Gladiolus continued, shattering the silence. "10,000 if you can chase him off."

"Is he prowling around those Duscaen fields again?" Ignis asked, entering from the front entrance and joining the group with an armful of groceries.

"Looks like it." It was obvious Gladiolus was considering taking the hunt, evident by how intently he was staring at the wanted poster. "We could really need some cash right now," he argued, expression unusually neutral. "Prompto really needs some better guns, but the ones at Meldacio are gonna cost us about two weeks worth of food."

"I told you I'm fine using the ones I have," Prompto retorted quietly. "Let's just go to Lestallum or something."

Frowning, Gladiolus shook his head; his eyes were still trained on the poster. "Lestallum weapons are fine, but we all know the Meldacio ones are the real deal. It's the Hunter HQ after all." 

Before Prompto could argue again, Ignis cut in. "We also are in desperate need of curatives. Specifically elixirs, which are fairly expensive." With the groceries beginning to slip slightly in his grasp, Ignis had to readjust to keep them from falling. "Keep in mind that we could also earn that money with other hunts. It would take us much longer, but it certainly would be safer."

"I guess so," Gladiolus begrudgingly agreed. "But it's been what? Two months? Don't you think we're strong enough to take him on now?" It was obvious at this point that some of Gladiolus' hurt pride was speaking. He was supposed to be the strongest fighter of the group, the shield of the future king. And yet he had gotten smacked into the ground by a Behemoth and left the prince to fend for himself, to save them all, including his own _bodyguard_. "At the very least, we should be able to chase him off. We've done it before."

Prompto couldn't help but let out a short, humourless chuckle. "Yeah, and after that I was pretty much locked in a hospital room for two weeks, Ignis had to wear a brace for twenty days and you had to have a kidney removed. Not an ideal outcome, if I do say so myself."

"It's not like I forgot," Gladiolus grumbled, crossing his arms. "In the end, it's your call, Noct."

Everyone looked to the prince for a decision. Hand still placed on the pinball machine, eyes trained on the various brightly coloured balls, Noctis seemed to mull everything over. There was a haunted look to his eyes, guilt washing over his expression. 

It had taken almost an entire week to convince Noctis that he hadn't been at fault for what had happened. Being the only one to come out relatively unscathed, he had felt an immense amount of guilt. With his friends all incapacitated on the ground, in a last ditch effort he had summoned Ramuh; an action that had cost him almost all his energy. It had been a gamble. In the end, even the Judgment Bolt hadn't been enough to kill Deadeye for good and he easily could have slaughtered the severely weakened prince the moment the Fulgurian disappeared, then devoured all his friends one by one. But in an incredibly fortunate turn of events, he had turned away from the easy kill, instead returning to his territory deep in the forests of Duscae. Their survival that day had depended entirely on dumb luck. And it still haunted them.

"We should take the hunt." 

The words didn't seem to click for a few seconds. Only when Noctis looked up from the pinball machine, a cool determination shining in his azure eyes, did it sink in. 

In response, Gladiolus let out a long sigh, Ignis silently nodded and Prompto brokenly mumbled a quiet "Okay". 

* * *

"Look at these abs! They're godly! No harm can ever come their way!" Gladiolus' voice could probably be heard all the way to Leide, the man laughing boisterously as he smacked his chiseled abs repeatedly. "Even if I had scars covering almost every inch of my body, my godly abs would stay _immaculate_!"

"I think Gladio's drunk," Prompto murmured under his breath, exhaustion pulling at his eyelids. "Think he's gonna pass out soon? I don't think I can take his bragging for another minute."

Ignis seemed unperturbed, looking more interested in studying some sort of lifestyle magazine. "Considering his stamina, I wouldn't hope for it."

"He drank enough to give an entire family alcohol poisoning! How is he still alive!"

"It's Gladio," was Noctis' simple answer. 

Prompto let out a frustrated sound, hand tiredly swiping over his face. "Every single daemon in the vicinity is gonna come running. He's like a goddamn siren!" Prompto's words were barely audible over Gladiolus' incoherent screaming.

"The Stormsender's runes ward off whatever would try to harm us," Ignis said in a dry, matter-of-fact tone. "As long as we stay on the campsite, Gladiolus could turn on an actual siren and still no daemon or beast could touch even a hair on our heads."

"If I was a daemon, I would find a way to get in here just to strangle Gladio and get him to shut up before my eardrums explode." Once again observing Gladio's intoxicated state, an idea seemed to suddenly hit Prompto, his eyes lighting up with a mischievous glint. "Say, Gladio…"

"Mmhhgh?" was all the man could reply, already gulping down another keg. 

"So where _did_ you get that scar on your face? Looks like you damn near got an eye poked out by something." 

Setting down his empty glass, Gladiolus briefly touched his fingertips to the lone scar running through his left eye and down his cheek, locking eyes with Noctis. When the prince looked back at him with a knowing smirk, Gladiolus' silver necklace reflected the light of the flickering fire and shifted through various shades of red and amber. "Some tales are better left untold," he answered with a hint of a smirk.

"Awwwwwwww, come on!" Prompto immediately whined, bouncing in his camping chair. "The atmosphere is perfect for an epic Gladio tale! It's dark, we're at a campfire, we're eating marshmallows, what else could you possibly want!" 

"I'll tell you the story next time I get a scar. Promise."

Prompto mumbled and whined to himself for a bit, before ultimately poking at Noctis for an answer. The prince gave in surprisingly quick.

"He got shanked by some drunk guy."

"Hey!" Gladiolus immediately shouted, spit or beer flying out of his mouth. "I was protecting _your_ ungrateful ass! And this is my thank you? You just spill all my secrets? You're crushing my aesthetic here! The scar was supposed to be mysterious!"  

Noctis shrugged, not looking sorry in the slightest.

It took a few minutes before Prompto had stopped laughing. He had only done so after an enraged Gladiolus chased him around the camp long enough. Once seated agin, the blond attempted to chat up Ignis, pointedly ignoring the swordsman in mock sulking and making Gladiolus chuckle. Considering Ignis was almost entirely focused on his magazine, Prompto had to give up and sink into his chair and stare up at the vast night sky. The campfire continued crackling, filling up the comfortable silence that followed. Crickets chirping and trees rustling filled out the otherwise sparse soundscape. 

Gladiolus noticed Noctis staring at him strangely, tired eyes weirdly intense. "Something up?" 

Not usually one to pick his words wisely, Noctis was taking an oddly long time answering. "Don't fight him."

"Who?"

Hesitation could be read on the prince's face, his eyes dropping to the ground. The campfire lit up his half-lidded eyes, making them look like tiny embers shining through his lashes. "The sword collector."

All of a sudden, Gladiolus seemed completely sober. His until then relaxed expression morphed into a grave look of skepticism and suspicion, something about Noctis' words clearly disturbing him. "Is that an order from my king?"

Immediately, Noctis' eyes widened, showing an almost child-like shock. "No! I would never…" Letting out a silent sigh, he bowed his head. "It's a request from… your friend."

"Then sorry, but I can't obey that."

Ignis had lowered his magazine, concerned eyes on the oldest man in the group. "Gladio…" It was unheard of for a king's shield to outright _deny_ an order, much less a personal, heartfelt request like that.

Noctis looked like he wanted to say more, try harder to convince Gladiolus, but looking at the man and seeing the harsh look in his eyes, _angry_ almost, he gave up. He suddenly looked smaller in his chair, not like a future king, but more like a berated child. Head still lowered, all the others had to go by to guess at what Noctis was thinking were his hands, which he was wringing and squeezing in what could only be described as an agitated manner. It was a nervous gesture they weren't quite used to seeing.   

To their surprise, Noctis suddenly got up and stormed off, almost throwing over his chair in his hasty attempt to escape. He left the remaining three stunned, two of which were still entirely clueless about what the conversation with Gladiolus had even been about. Prompto was on his feet almost immediately, already prepared to run after Noctis and comfort him in whatever way he could. But a hand on his wrist held him back. 

"Leave him alone for a bit," Ignis told him in a low voice. "I don't think he wants us to see him like that."

Still, Prompto refused to sit back down, watching as Noctis disappeared in the darkness, stalking _away_ from the campsite. "Don't care," he mumbled, pulling his arm out of Ignis' loose grip. No one stopped him.

Prompto had to search quite a bit before he finally found Noctis. Turns out finding a black-haired dude in black clothes in pitch-black darkness isn't all that easy. Prompto found him sitting on a rock formation some yards away from the campsite. It was high up enough that most daemons and beasts wouldn't be able to reach him, which caused Prompto to let out a sigh of relief. Then almost immediately after, he groaned at the prospect of having to climb up rocks in the dark. He didn't have magic warping abilities to help him like Noctis did, so like the peasant that he was, he ended up climbing up the rocks one by one, cursing that rain shower earlier for making them somewhat slippery. By the time he reached his goal, he was panting a little, heart pounding. 

All plans of handling Noctis delicately went out the window the moment Prompto caught sight of the prince. Usually composed and painfully aloof at times, Noctis was now tightly hugging his knees to his chest, slightly rocking himself back and forth. It was certainly a sight to behold. "Noc–" The words died on his tongue when Prompto heard the quiet murmuring coming from his friend, causing him to approach him silently, intent on hearing what he was saying. He wasn't sure if Noctis was even saying words, because despite now being relatively close, Prompto couldn't make out a single one. "Hey… Noct…" he finally whispered, hand hovering over the prince's shoulder. 

Then he heard it.

The too fast breathing, the underlying agitation to each shuddering breath. 

"Are you having a panic attack right now?" 

 _That_ seemed to rouse the prince, Noctis jerking up and looking back at Prompto. Immediately, his eyes filled with a plethora of emotions. 

"Um… okay, I'll just take that as a _Yes._ " Having had his fare share of panic attacks in his life, Prompto knew one when he saw it. His had been quiet and creeping, usually hitting him at night when he felt loneliest. Noctis' seemed to be the more frantic type. "Okay, dude, first of all, _breathe_. Slowly. Breathe in real deep, hold it for a bit, then let it out again." He watched as Noctis took in shaky breath after shaky breath, slowly but surely getting his breathing under control. "Awesome! Now just… relax a bit. You're kinda cramping up." 

Apparently Noctis hadn't noticed how tensed up almost every single muscle in his body was. It seemed like it was painful for him to suddenly release all that tension, the prince pulling a little frown when he forced himself to stretch out his legs.

"So uh… what um… what happened? I mean–" Prompto knew he was beginning to ramble. Handling his own panic attacks throughout most of middle school had been difficult enough. Handling someone _else's_ was an entirely different beast. "Any idea what triggered this?" 

Noctis was reluctant to answer. He clenched his jaw, as though he didn't want to even just accidentally say a word. 

"I get that this is… _uncomfortable_ , but…" The blond seemed to war with himself, looking like he knew what to say, yet not _wanting_ to say it. "You gotta tell me stuff like this. I feel horrible and powerless when I can't help you." Prompto flushed right after speaking his mind so earnestly.

In response, Noctis let out a little frustrated sigh. He knew he couldn't back out of this conversation anymore. Still, even with his friend there to help him, pain filled his eyes the moment he tried articulating his thoughts. "I just… I don't want to die." He paused, swallowing a lump in his throat. "I don't want _any_ of us to die."

"Oh…" Clearly, Prompto hadn't expected that kind of answer. This was a topic he wasn't quite comfortable with himself. It opened up this pit in his gut that seemed like it was trying to suck in all his thoughts and emotions into an endless dark void. He noticed Noctis still looking a bit shaky and frantic. Now, Prompto could either force Noctis to distract himself with happy, positive things, or he could continue digging and risk sending his friend into another, more severe state of distress. Sighing, he had to admit to himself that there was only one right answer. "Everyone dies eventually. Life wouldn't be enjoyable if it went on forever."

"No, you…" Head dropping again, Noctis shook his head, "you don't understand. I-I…" He let out a sound that sounded less like a sigh and more like a sharp exhale that hinted at more panic to come. "I want us to be like my dad and his friends. Old and cranky, but _alive_. I want you guys to sit with me at boring diplomatic meetings. I want to have silly old man fights with you where even if we don't talk to each other for a few months or years, we'd still kill for each other. I want to meet your kids one day and scare the shit out of them the same way my dad scared you guys when you each first met him. I just… I just…"

Stroking Noctis' back seemed to soothe him, even if just a little bit. It was like talking this much all at once was tiring him out even more. Prompto wished he could say something to make Noctis feel better, but he knew that there really wasn't much he could do besides let him ride it out. "Why do you think we won't be like that?"

Noctis' eyes went somewhat hazy. Like he was entering some sort of fog, away from Prompto and away from the rest of the world. "I have this feeling that… I won't live past thirty. I just can't imagine my own life past that. And if _I_ don't live past thirty, then…"

Gulping, Prompto frantically searched for something to say, _anything_ to take away this crippling, agonising pain from his friend. But he couldn't. This wasn't something he could distract Noctis from, something that he could joke away with a goofy persona.

"That is simply due to your limited capability to perceive time." 

The voice made Prompto nearly jump out of his skin, a surprised little squawk escaping his mouth. "Damn, Ignis… Could've warned us. Don't sneak up on us like this."

"I apologise." Ignis didn't sound the least bit sorry. "To get back to my point: the further we try to imagine the future, the less detailed our perception of it becomes. Eventually, we stop being able to imagine it at all, simply because our imagination doesn't reach far enough. Not being able to imagine your life past the age of thirty is relatively normal. People tend to plan ahead vividly no further than ten years at a time."

Something like hope shone in Noctis' eyes then. Simple, innocent hope that maybe, things weren't as grim as his own thoughts were trying to make him believe.

"If psych doc Iggy says so, I believe him," Gladiolus suddenly chimed in, climbing up on the rock as well and settling besides Prompto.

Having his friends all gathered together and seeing him in this state clearly embarrassed Noctis to a certain degree, but he also seemed relieved to not have to be alone with his own thoughts. Gladiolus and Prompto began chatting, the sound of idle conversation filling the crisp night air. 

"We should go sleep," Gladiolus suggested when he noticed Noctis beginning to slump into Ignis, Prompto on his way to doing the same on Ignis' other side. 

"No," Noctis mumbled, straightening up clumsily. "I'll stay a bit longer."

It was clear that Prompto had something to say to that. But somehow the blond couldn't get the words out, couldn't even look at Noctis properly.

"Let's go." Gladiolus was the first to stand up, holding out a hand for Prompto to take. "For _real_ this time."

Another sigh left Prompto, the gunner reluctantly taking the man's hand and letting him pull him up. "Fine." 

Ignis followed them in relative silence after they said their _Good night_ s to Noctis and left. Immediately, he seemed to notice Prompto's gloomy mood. "I'll go get him if he doesn't come back to camp within an hour," he said. "He has barely slept the past two weeks. I'm surprised he is at all functioning throughout the day."

Agitatedly rubbing his face, Gladiolus groaned. "I don't think that he _can't_ sleep. It's more like he doesn't _want_ to sleep."

"Yeah, agreed," Prompto murmured, eyes trained on the ground. "It's like… he's afraid of sleeping. Or dreaming."

"That would certainly explain some of his behaviour." Ignis suddenly looked deep in thought, hand coming up to rest against his chin in a pondering manner. 

Gladiolus ran a hand through his hair, briefly glancing back to where Noctis still sat in relative darkness, illuminated only by the too large moon. "Lack of sleep can be debilitating, especially for him."

"Hmmmh… lack of sleep…" Prompto hummed to himself, also losing himself to his own thoughts. It couldn't possibly be that simple. "I haven't seen his eyes flash crazy colours since that first time. That's good, right?"

"It could simply mean that we haven't noticed it," Ignis sighed, tall frame looking to deflate slightly. "A lot is going on in that head of his. He might not seem like it, but he thinks a _lot_. Give him some space, Gladio. You're underestimating him if you think lack of sleep alone could do this to him."

Releasing a tense breath of air, Gladiolus nodded. "I guess you're right," he mumbled.

Crossing his arms, Ignis pushed his silver glasses up his tall nose. "Let's hope we find out what is causing this before it can break him any further."

* * *

It was getting increasingly more difficult to stay awake. Exhaustion pulled at Noctis' mind, whispering to him the promise of peaceful sleep. But he knew it was a lie. Sleep, once a thing he had cherished, had become something terrifying, every dream a nightmare. Each time he woke up, he felt less certain of reality. And each time he recalled the dissipating fragments of his dreams, terror laid its ice-cold claws around his chest. Moments that used to be brief shifts of his mind into another perspective suddenly felt like he was losing his sense of self and the world around him, like he was constantly being thrown around planes of existence without ever being able to stay in one place. 

"Noct?"

It took a moment for the prince to actually register the world around him again, for the low hum of the Regalia's motor to enter his consciousness, for him to feel the wind rushing against his face. When he did, he found Gladiolus looking at him with worry lining every inch of his face. "Hmm?"

"You need to sleep, buddy," the older man said in a somewhat stern tone. "You're starting to have dark circles under your eyes."

Noctis hadn't looked into a mirror in a long time. Too big was the fear that he would see someone looking back at him that wasn't himself. 

Having listened in on the conversation, Prompto turned around in the passenger seat. "We're still gonna be driving for a while. Take a nap, at least?"

 _Like you always do_.

Noctis knew Prompto was thinking the words even if he didn't say them.   

"If I may add," Ignis spoke up, "we are about to engage a Behemoth that has been terrorising the region for decades. It would be wise to rest up as much as possible to be able to fight at full strength." 

Again, that inviting whisper of sleep, promising to take him into a world of peaceful darkness. Noctis used to never deny it, always letting himself be whisked away willingly. Now he knew that letting it seduce him would throw him into a world of foreign colours and strange sounds, at first unfamiliar but soon part of his world. It consumed him.

"I'm fine," was all Noctis said, noticing the way Prompto's already pinched expression fell, how Ignis tightened his grip on the steering wheel and how Gladiolus looked to be doing his damnedest not to cuss at him. 

The remainder of the car ride was silent. While Ignis continued driving, Prompto's camera sat lifelessly in the blond's lap and Gladiolus stayed on the same page of his book the entire time.

The sun was at its highest point in the sky when the Regalia finally stopped next to a small wooden cabin. Noctis recognised it as the cabin they had stayed in once when a nasty rainstorm had caught them by surprise. With a frown he remembered how he had tried cooking something for everyone in the little kitchenette. Somehow he had managed to demolish the only two pans available, one crusted with burnt potatoes, the other ending up on the floor in a burning heap.

"I suggest we regroup inside for a moment before heading out." 

Ignis looked like his usual composed self. But underneath that calm mask of his, Noctis could detect the same fear and concern the other two constantly aimed at him. "Sure."

Once they arrived inside, Noctis tried squashing the hole opening up in his gut when he found no burn marks on the floor in front of the kitchenette. After that, the regrouping lasted all of ten minutes. They were all entirely over prepared, having gone through all the possible worst case scenarios, stocked up on potions and other curatives, weapons polished and ready. 

It didn't take long to find their bounty after that. Like the diner owner had said, Deadeye was stalking around Duscaen fields, with everyone in the vicinity able to hear his abominable hissing and growling from miles away. It was a horrifying sound, a sharp rumbling growl, like a snake hissing from within the jaws of a malformed tiger. And even from a distance, no other creatures could be seen. It was as though Duscae was dead and only Deadeye remained.

With one last shared glance, they slowly approached the Behemoth. If they could take him by surprise, they would have an advantage right away. 

"Remember that he's completely blind on his right side," Gladiolus whispered, joining the other three in hiding behind a large rock. "We go, throw fire spells at him and keep doing that for as long as possible. If we're lucky, the fire alone will do him in."

It didn't.

The moment Deadeye went up in flames, the beast charged at them, ignoring the fire licking at almost every inch of its body. It roared, leaping into the air and onto its hind legs, then smashing its massive paws back into the ground. The sheer force of it caused a small earthquake that knocked Prompto onto his back, the blond yelping in pain.  

Grinding his teeth, Noctis desperately crafted more magic, sending most of his remaining fire energy into a single, powerful spell. He watched with horror as Gladiolus fought alone against the beast while Ignis dashed towards a fallen Prompto. "Move!" he screamed, prompting the other three to run or hobble to safety, barely escaping the explosion of fire that Noctis rained onto the monster. 

Suddenly, Deadeye turned his attention to Noctis, the earth trembling when he charged at the comparatively tiny human. Heart violently beating in his chest, Noctis pulled a greatsword out of the air, the blade humming as he swung it in front of him. He sank the heavy sword into the ground, just in time to block a violent swing of Deadeye's paw. The force of it hit Noctis down to the bone, making him feel as though his brain could get knocked out of his skull. He struggled to defend against the onslaught, sweat beading on his forehead, muscles straining. 

When Deadeye pulled back for another swing, Noctis quickly warped to his right side, sinking the serrated edge of his greatsword into the beast's leg. Deadeye's monstrous wail made pain explode in the prince's ears, but he still continued hacking away. Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto had caught up by now, joining him in the assault. Prompto stayed in the front and kept Deadeye's attention on himself by shooting at the Behemoth's scarred face, while Ignis cast more fire magic, Gladiolus joining Noctis in hacking at Deadeye's right side.

They continued like this for what felt like an eternity. Chipping away at the monster's body, dodging and barely escaping, chugging potion after potion to keep up their stamina and heal wounds. It seemed endless. No amount of damage seemed capable of ever fazing Deadeye. He continued his assault, angrily whipping his tail around, smacking his paws into the ground where they stood, never even faltering or pausing in his quest to slaughter the insects daring to attack him. 

It took only a split second of distraction, a brief moment in which Noctis wasn't paying attention, and suddenly he found himself in the air. Had he warped without realising? Then he noticed the unnatural course of his trek through the air: uncontrolled, the world flipping upside down and back. 

 _Deadeye got me_.

That thought alone stuck in his mind when he hit the ground. Immediately, his head connected with something hard and cold. 

 _A rock?_  

He could feel his consciousness slip immediately. 

 _No_ … 

He reached up, gathering all his remaining energy and feeling it burn through his arm as it travelled to his hand. 

_Ramuh…_

"Noct!" 

Several voices pierced through the dark fog that surrounded his mind. They were all screaming his name.

"Noct! Come on, man."

Something was held to his lips, liquid already dribbling down his chin. Noctis instinctively swallowed, almost instantly feeling his consciousness being pulled back to the blinding light of day.

"Get up! Hurry," he heard Gladiolus yell from somewhere, the noise of claws hitting metal echoing through the air.

Suddenly, Noctis was standing. Prompto stood next to him, supporting him with an arm around his waist and grinning at him.

"Good thing we stocked up on elixirs." The gunner was smiling, but there was a franticness to it; like he was ready to dart at any second and drag Noctis along with him. His racing heart could be felt through his vest.

Noctis felt the powerful threads of magic swirling in his every fibre once again. Clenching and unclenching his fist, he carefully separated himself from Prompto. "Step away." 

Prompto followed the order without hesitation, looking to already have an idea of what was to come. He seemed worried, but also hopeful.

A circle of arms materialised around Noctis, weapons of rulers past encircling him in an ethereal glow. They sang as he directed the full brunt of every single one at the Behemoth, creating a cacophony of glass-like chimes. Then Noctis was slamming an axe taller than himself into the beast's flesh, warping away immediately. Next a katana, then a mace, then shuriken. The weapons began to blur together in Noctis' mind, too fast the speed at which he was almost simultaneously attacking and warping. He couldn't even see what he was attacking anymore, going almost entirely by instinct as he slammed weapon after weapon into Deadeye's scarred and bloody body.

Eventually Noctis could feel the weapons disappear one after another, prompting him to warp far away to asses the damage he had done. He landed on his own two feet, but sank to his knees almost immediately, chest heaving and desperate breaths tearing through his throat. He could still hear Gladiolus grunting as he swung his word around, Ignis shouting out orders in his stead and Prompto shooting from a distance. The fight was still going on. Deadeye was still alive. 

The prince's heart sank when he finally caught sight of the current situation: Gladiolus seemed to be on his last leg, expression pained and movement sluggish. The other two weren't faring much better, both desperately downing elixirs. How many had they drank so far? Even with the large amount they had brought, would it last? 

Noctis tried standing up, but couldn't stay on his feet for longer than a second. With his magic and energy completely drained, even staying conscious was a challenge. Deadeye was still as ferocious as ever, seeming completely unperturbed by the barrage of attacks, the burn marks littering his already scarred skin apparently entirely superficial. 

A shudder ran down Noctis' clammy back when Deadeye's remaining eye focused on him. Amber, with an almost human-like variety of emotions filling them. Rage, frustration, hate. _Glee_. 

Panting, Noctis cursed under his breath as he pulled a new weapon out of thin air. This time it was the blade he had brought from Insomnia, the one that his father had given him on his 16th birthday, finally, after years of him pining for it. He prepared himself for another impact, steeling himself for the feeling of his bones being knocked out of his body.

Suddenly, Deadeye roared. His single amber eye darted to the side, where wisps of fire were still flying around Ignis' outstretched hand. 

It almost happened too fast for Noctis to even register. One moment he was prepared to take the full brunt of Deadeye's attack, the next, he could only watch on in horror as the Behemoth charged at Ignis, who was quite a distance away from anyone else. He had only one knife in his hand. His glasses looked to be broken. There was no way he could defend himself against the monster approaching. 

Trying to conjure up any sort of magic caused an intense stabbing pain that sent Noctis to his knees. Refusing to falter, he pulled and pulled, feeling his entire body burn with the strain, every fibre of his body creaking and snapping. The second he could feel the familiar blue energy encompass his body, he threw his blade. 

The sight of Ignis awaiting impending doom sent Noctis into a blind rush, terror fuelling his body. He couldn't process sounds, thoughts, emotions. All he knew was that he needed to protect Ignis at any cost, prevent any form of injury from finding him. 

Relief washed over him the moment he could grab the man and push him away from harms way. Not even Ignis' look of sheer horror could dampen this euphoric feeling. Knowing he was safe and uninjured was enough for Noctis. 

He heard the impact rather than feel it. He heard Deadeye's claws tearing into his own body, before it slammed into the ground with a meaty thud, followed by the gut-wrenching sound of his bones breaking. 

Noctis almost let out a relieved sigh when he could feel his consciousness fade before he could feel that massive paw come down on him again, claws glinting in the sunlight as it raced towards him. 

Ignis was uninjured. That was all that mattered.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third and final chapter will be up next Friday. Thank you for all the nice comments and the Kudos and everything! Hope you've enjoyed the ride so far!


	3. Ultimate

"Hey, Noct! Let go of some of that tension! Your line's gonna break." Gladiolus shook his head when Noctis ignored him, as usual. It was almost as though the prince refused to take any of his advice and was purposefully doing the exact opposite of what his bodyguard was telling him to do; out of mere defiance, most likely.

Sea foam brushed against the man's cheek when a wave hit the rocks he was sitting on. Watching Noctis angle was all Gladiolus could really do, considering Ignis and Prompto were off shopping and asking locals for info about the area. Cleigne was still uncharted territory for them and they couldn't stay in Cape Caem forever. Sure, it was nice to wake up in the little house his sister and the remaining Crownsguard had restored, surrounded by beautiful nature, the incredibly blue ocean, his family and people he had known almost his entire life, but Gladiolus knew they couldn't stay forever. It had been three days already. It was high time to leave.

Gladiolus' train of thought was broken when he heard the telltale sound of a fishing line snapping, followed by Noctis cursing. Upon focusing on the prince, he saw the boy throw down his rod in anger, his hands shooting up to tear off his black cap and throw that onto the little pier as well. His pristine white t-shirt almost glowed in the blinding sunlight, the ocean foaming at the pier and splashing droplets of water through the air.

"Um…" Puzzled for a second, it took Gladiolus a moment to catch up with the situation. With a sigh, he left his place on top of a little rock formation and wandered up to the prince. "Something wrong?"

"Fuck off," was all that Noctis spat at him, not even looking at him. 

Gladiolus knew better. He knew Noctis, had known him since the guy was a snot-nosed, bratty little kid. Which, technically, he still was. But Gladiolus knew that underneath that cool and aloof attitude Noctis always showed to people, the prince was still that same awkward and shy boy he had always been. And he knew that Noctis wasn't one to curse a lot, not because he was prude or timid, but because it simply wasn't part of his vocabulary. So when he _did_ curse, it was never in an insulting way. Never. Still, Gladiolus couldn't help the spark of anger entering his emotions.  

"You're being a brat." Gladiolus could _see_ the fury coursing through Noctis at that moment, making the boy tense up, shoulders hunching and fists clenching. "I didn't come all the way out here to serve a brat."

Noctis snapped around, blue eyes filled with pure rage. "Well then why don't you just stay fucking here forever and cuddle up with Iris!" His wrath seemed large enough it could break his slender body. "Staying with me isn't gonna benefit you anyway! Insomnia is dead! There's no one left to pay you!"

Before Noctis even had time to react, he was lifted into the air by his collar, his own shirt straining against his neck. 

Heart throbbing, heat erupting all over his body, Gladiolus stared down at the prince while fighting back the need to pummel him. "Do you really think that's why I swore to protect you? For _money_?!" His anger only spiked when all he got in response was a cold, uncaring look from the prince. Gladiolus grit his teeth and threw the boy to the ground, watching as Noctis stumbled and fell on his back. "You're a disgrace," he spat. "A king isn't supposed to act this childishly. If you care about this nation at all, even just a tiny bit, then grow the fuck up."

Noctis remained silent, not even standing up from the damp ground. 

"Well?" Gladiolus eventually prodded. "Got nothing to say to me? You're really gonna let things go like this?"

Finally, Noctis seemed to allow himself to feel emotions other than rage. "I just…" All anger seemed to fade from his body, instead replaced by a sense of defeat. "I don't want to be alive."  

Gladiolus blacked out for a second. It was like the world was covered in a dark blanket for a brief moment. But once the initial shock wore off, anger took over again. "Don't say that!" he bellowed, hearing his own voice echo off the rocky cliffs. "You're disrespecting everything Jared did to protect you!"

"Sounds nice to say, but the truth is that this is gonna keep happening over and over and over again until one day, I'm the only person left alive! Everyone _dead_ because of me!"

"That's… extreme."

"Is it? I don't think so." This wasn't Noctis. "Me being alive and _staying_ alive means sacrificing other people, so what's even the point of all this?" Noctis didn't have these kind of defeated eyes. "I'm supposed to become a king that protects his people, not a king that sacrifices his own people to keep living on. How am I gonna… How will I face my dad when…"

Letting out a sharp sigh, Gladiolus heavily plopped down onto the pier, the wood creaking under his weight. He sat there in silence for a while, listening to Noctis' laboured breathing, like he was trying to hold back sobs. "You need to accept that you're different from everybody else," he eventually said. "Your life is more valuable than ours. Accept that and keep going."

"Easy for you to say."

Another silence. Gladiolus couldn't even look at Noctis anymore. He was sure now that this entire thing was just Noctis letting off steam in the most immature way possible. Considering Gladiolus had responded to his goading though, what did that make him? "Look, it's no use moping. Let's just wait for Ignis and Prompto and head straight for Altissia. Then we can–"

"And then what?" Noctis sounded desperate, like he wanted answers more than anything else. Answers no one could provide. "Going back to Insomnia isn't gonna help! Going to Altissia isn't gonna help! Going back or going forwards, it's both useless! Any direction I go, any decision I make, it's all _useless_!"

As though summoned by their names being mentioned, Ignis and Prompto appeared, approaching the pair with arms full of groceries. Their smiles had disappeared the moment they heard the yelling, concern immediately taking over their expressions. They watched as Noctis sprang to his feet, suddenly agitated, pacing around. 

Meanwhile, Gladiolus had a front row seat for the spectacle that was Noctis going through some sort of mental breakdown. His anger faded as he watched the display of emotions on the prince's face, worry beginning to nag at his conscious. Had he caused this? Had he pushed Noctis into being this frenetic mess of a person? "Noct?" The prince didn't respond. "Noct!" Still no response, only heavy breathing as Noctis lowered his head. Instinctively, Gladiolus grabbed the boy by the shoulders, shaking him, trying anything he could think of to stop this madness. "Noct!" 

Noctis suddenly met Gladiolus' eyes. 

It was like looking straight into chaos. Eyes bloodshot, Noctis looked like a madman. Terror gripped Gladiolus' heart when he finally registered what exactly he was looking at. Not the usual glowing violet that was both mystifying and beautiful, but a deep crimson that sent chills down his spine. No flashing through different colours. Just the color of blood glowing back at him.

"Hey, hey, hey, let's calm down for a sec," Prompto suddenly laughed, nervously. He squeezed in between the two, sneakily separating the bodyguard from his charge. "Once we get to Altissia and meet Luna–"

"That's never gonna happen!" Noctis' eyes were back to normal. "Shut up about fucking Altissia!"

All Prompto could do was laugh nervously, not used to being on the receiving end of Noctis' anger. "N-Noct, calm down. Why would it–"

"Because I killed her!" Noctis' sounded broken. Defeated. "I stabbed Luna through the heart with her own trident!" His eyes went wild for a moment, like he was suddenly somewhere else entirely. "I forgot… All that blood…" Strength seemed to leave his body, leaving behind an empty, hollow shell. "I kept pushing and pushing it into her chest and I heard her ribs breaking and I kept pushing until…"

Prompto seemed unable to banish the nervous smile from his face. "Th-That was probably just a nightmare, Noct."

Noctis turned on Prompto. "Why else do you think Ravus hates me so much!"

"I… I…" 

Ignis placed a hand on the blond's shoulder, apparently noticing the way Prompto's body shook slightly. "Ravus was traumatised by his mother's death, Noct." Ignis, ever the voice of reason, was the only one left not entirely taken over by emotions. "He is merely a brother concerned for his sister, like any other brother-in-law might be under these circumstances. That's all there is to it."

No matter what they said, the prince sat there with his head down, mumbling to himself. Like a chant, he kept repeating the same words to himself over and over and over again. 

"I killed her."

It seemed futile to even try and convince Noctis that Lunafreya was still alive, short of actually having him meet her in Altissia. They had learned over the past few days that Noctis was even more stubborn than they could have ever imagined. They had also learned that helping Noctis apparently wasn't within their power.

* * *

Ignis lowered his book when he noticed Gladiolus rousing and slowly waking up. It took the man a moment to find his bearings, eventually sitting up and blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"Good morning," Ignis greeted him, opening the flaps of the tent a bit further to let in more of the morning light and perhaps wake up the remaining two as well. 

"How is he?" With a yawn Gladiolus rubbed his face and began stretching.

Eyes wandering to the still prince next to him, Ignis suppressed a sigh. "No changes. He's still unconscious."

Immediately, worry entered Gladiolus' eyes and seemed to wake him up further. "It's been four days now. Didn't the doctor say he would be okay with some rest and that he would wake up after a day or two?"

"Well, that was an estimate for regular people under regular circumstances," Ignis argued, trying his hardest not to let his own worry show through. "Neither of which fits this situation. Noct was severely sleep-deprived when we fought Deadeye. And the exact effects of downing that many potions and elixirs within a short span of time are still not well researched. He might be experiencing side effects of sorts."

Letting out a small sigh, Gladiolus silently nodded. His eyes then wandered to Prompto, who was still soundly asleep and nearly smothering Noctis. "Is that okay for him to do?"

Ignis inspected the sleeping pair, noting the way Prompto nuzzled into the prince's chest, one arm slung over Noctis' stomach. "I suppose so," he eventually concluded. "His broken ribs were mended and most of his internal injuries have healed by now."

The conversation seemed to disturb Prompto, who blearily opened his eyes, confusedly glancing around until his vision seemed to clear up and he caught sight of the two men. "Mornin'," he mumbled in a half yawn, rubbing over his eyes. He seemed to notice his position, finally, and carefully released his hold on Noctis as his face reddened. "Did I sleep like that all night?" 

Noticing the fear concealed in the question, Ignis smiled. "Yes, but I don't think it harmed him in any way. At this point, the majority of his wounds have healed."

A sigh of relief left the blond and he relaxed into a more comfortable position next to Noctis. After messily dragging a hand through his hair, his eyes fell on the prince again. "He's still unconscious?"

Gladiolus let out an affirmative hum, then made to leave the tent. "Well, I'm off. We've got breakfast to prepare."

Suddenly, all three men froze, eyes widening and hearts beginning to race. They had all heard the telltale noise that Noctis always made in the morning; the quiet, yet annoyed little groan he did when he was waking up but didn't want to, as though he was desperately holding on to the last shreds of sleep and was frustrated when he couldn't.

With bated breaths, they watched as the prince's eyes began to flutter slightly, before eventually slowly opening. He laid still. Eyes trained on the ceiling of the tent, he stayed motionless for a while. The others began to question whether he was actually awake, until Noctis suddenly shot up into an upright position, eyes wide. 

Ignis' body moved before he was even really aware of it, hands coming up to steady the prince. And just in time, because in that moment, Noctis's expression turned into one of pain, hands coming up to dig his fingers into Ignis' arms. "Noct…"

Noctis forced open an eye to look at Ignis, his pained expression immediately changing. Ignis couldn't quite understand the multitude of emotions flashing over the prince's face. Pain, relief, joy, confusion all flitted across his features. Ignis just barely suppressed a surprised flinch when Noctis suddenly touched his cheekbone, holding his face and looking at him as though the man would disappear any second. 

"You're okay?"

More than anything, the way his nearly earth-shattering concern and fear could be clearly seen in Noctis' wide blue eyes amazed Ignis. Then the question itself puzzled Ignis. Here he was, knocked out for days and in too much pain to even sit straight, and yet Noctis was concerned about his advisor? Then Ignis remembered the circumstances under which Noctis was waking up. The last thing he could remember was probably shoving Ignis out of the way and then being mauled by a Behemoth. To him, that was all still fresh. "I am, thanks to you," Ignis finally replied, a sombre smile taking over his face. "But please, never do that kind of thing again. I'd rather–" He was silenced by Gladiolus shaking his head slightly, expression glum. "I should have seen this coming. I apologise for not being a better advisor to you." 

Looking at Noctis, Ignis knew immediately what was going to happen. He saw the way Noctis frowned, how he lowered his eyes and began worrying his lip. Memories of a frail little boy came to mind. Memories of a shy boy pretending to be mature beyond his age. Memories of a boy that in rare moments broke down and let out his trapped emotions. And Ignis remembered how as a child himself, he would sometimes have to comfort a crying prince and tell him that it was okay to have emotions, even as a future king.

The other two couldn't be entirely sure if Noctis was actually crying. They had never seen him shed a tear before. But judging by the way Ignis was stroking his back and Noctis wouldn't lift his head from the man's shoulder, it was pretty obvious. Apparently, Noctis had perfected the art of crying silently. 

Another thing he had lost to being the heir to an entire kingdom.

* * *

Ignis had to place a soothing hand on Gladiolus' shoulder for the umpteenth time that day. Again and again, he would notice the man clenching his fists in an effort to keep his mouth shut, trying and trying to stay calm. It was only a matter of time until Ignis couldn't stop him anymore.

"Noct!" 

The sudden yell made Noctis abruptly stop in his tracks, turning to focus a muted look on the other.

"We need a break," Gladiolus barked, weakly concealed anger lining his words. "We've been up for three days without rest, without _sleeping_. We're gonna get ourselves killed at this rate." 

The sun was already going down, setting Leide alight in reds and pinks. The desert looked almost inviting and peaceful in the glow of the afternoon. 

Noctis blearily stared back at Gladiolus, seeming not quite there, eyes somewhat unfocused. "Why? We can go on longer."

Gladiolus visibly bristled at the words. "We _can't_! Aren't you listening?! Going a day or two without sleeping is fine, but we're going on _four_ days without rest, just running around this goddamn desert, constantly slaughtering beasts and daemons! What are we even doing here? Shouldn't we be heading to Altissia?"

Something changed in Noctis' eyes. Something in those words had made a flurry of emotions swirl in eyes that had been nothing but passive and uncaring the past few days. "We need to… get stronger." He seemed to waver where he stood. "Stronger… so that…"

Faster than anyone could react, Noctis suddenly dropped to the ground. Knees buckling, head slamming into the ground, he was unconscious before his body had even gone still. A concerned chorus of "Noct!" echoed through the desert as the others rushed to the prince, Ignis carefully turning him on his back.

"What's going on? Is he dying? Is he hurt?" Prompto was rambling in his concern, fumbling and sweating where he kneeled next to Noctis.

"I don't know." Ignis was frantically checking the prince for injuries, anything that could have made him fall unconscious like that. But he couldn't find anything.

Gladiolus was dragging a hand through his hair, frustration and concern seeming to battle on his scarred face. "You think maybe… maybe he's just… sleeping?" 

"Unlikely," Ignis immediately replied. "He's running a relatively high fever and his heart rate is abnormal."

Only now did Gladiolus notice the beads of sweat rolling down Noctis' face, the raspiness of his quick breathing. 

"We need to get him somewhere safe," Ignis murmured. "Gladio, help me carry him to the car."  

Prompto nervously fidgeted around, biting his lip as Ignis and Gladiolus carefully carried Noctis back to the car; eventually Gladiolus took the prince entirely into his own arms. The frustration finally left the bodyguard's face to be taken over entirely by concern once Noctis' head was resting on his shoulder, uneven and raspy breaths hitting his neck. 

By the time they got into the car, Gladiolus was sweating, but not from exertion. "I think his fever went up."

"What– How?" Ignis was already jamming the keys into the car, the engine coming to life. "His fever was _already_ dangerously high and we were walking for only a few minutes."

"I don't know what to tell you, okay." Even Gladiolus was beginning to have trouble maintaining his composure, beginning to reach Prompto levels of jitteriness. "He's just… really burning up. What if his magic is going haywire in his body or something?"

For once Ignis had no answer. He shook his head, keeping a hand on Prompto's shoulder to keep him from jumping out of his seat every few seconds. He could feel the blonde shaking, skin clammy and cold. "He's going to be fine." He was sure Prompto could feel how much his hand was trembling. 

It wasn't so much the fever itself that scared them. Rather, crawling into their thoughts was the sneaking suspicion that, yet again, they wouldn't be able to help Noctis. What really scared them was having to keep watching as Noctis suffered.

After a relatively short drive, the Regalia stopped in Galdin Quay's parking lot. The sun had set and the ocean was black, the beach looking abandoned and forlorn. 

"I'll get a room!" Prompt shouted, jumping out of the car before it had even stopped fully, sprinting away towards the warmly lit resort suspended over the ocean.

Gladio was in the middle of hoisting Noctis out of the car, when Ignis also rushed away.

"I will try to get a doctor here somehow."

That left Gladio to deal with Noctis by himself. In the short time it had taken to drive here, Noctis' fever had apparently risen even more. "Damn…" Gladiolus let out a wince as soon as Noctis was back in his arms. It was getting uncomfortable to hold him at all; he was radiating heat like some sort of portable heater. 

Rushing across the wooden bridge leading to the resort, a cool breeze peacefully drifted over Gladio. It didn't help in making him feel any less hot or stressed. Fortunately, by the time he reached the front desk, Prompto was already ushering him into a room, one of the waiters from the restaurant holding the door open. 

"The doctor's on her way," Ignis assured them, sounding exhausted and out of breath. 

All of them quickly shuffled into the room, Gladiolus carefully placing Noctis on the neatly made bed, Prompto pacing again and Ignis immediately fussing over the prince. The moment Ignis pressed a hand to Noctis' forehead, he flinched. 

"Did his fever go down?" Prompto asked hopefully, eyes red and irritated, like he had furiously rubbed them.

"It went up," Ignis replied flatly. "We need to get it down. I don't know how high exactly it really is, but it seems dangerous… To the point where it could damage his brain."

"I'll get some towels!" Prompto was about to run off again, but was stopped by Ignis.

"Don't." The advisor suddenly ran towards the bathroom, seemingly inspecting it, before motioning for Gladiolus to bring Noctis.

Prompto watched quizzically as Noctis was lifted up again and eventually placed in a bathtub. "Oh…"

"Help me take his clothes off," Ignis ordered, wasting to time in taking off the prince's shoes. 

After a few minutes of fumbling and quiet cussing, Noctis was left in his briefs, Ignis filling up the bathtub with lukewarm water.

"Won't cold water lower his fever faster?" Prompto asked out of the blue, having been silent ever since entering the small bathroom. 

"It would," Ignis said, checking again to make sure the water was the right temperature, "but it would also cause him to shiver, resulting in his core body temperature rising even more to combat the cold."

Prompto simply nodded, eyes dropping back to the perfectly tiled floor.

A few tense minutes passed like that. Ignis would occasionally add warm water to keep the temperature in the bath tub steady, checking again and again to see if Noctis' fever was getting better at all.

It wasn't.

Time seemed to pass by painstakingly slow until finally they heard someone coming towards their room. Prompto was at the door before the knock even sounded. Gladiolus and Ignis could hear him eagerly ushering someone inside, eventually dragging the doctor into the bathroom. 

She surveyed the group for a moment, eyes falling on the mess in the bathtub. "Out," she barked, jerking her head towards the door. 

After a brief moment of confusion, the three men finally left, hearing the woman set down some kind of briefcase and taking out different utensils, bottles and other tools. She kicked the door closed, leaving them in the main room feeling helpless and nervous. 

"Doesn't she need details or anything?" Gladiolus questioned, staring at the door as though he was contemplating going back inside.

"I told her everything over the phone." Arms crossed, Ignis sat down on one of the armchairs. "There's nothing left to do now but wait."

And wait they did. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours. Or at least it seemed like several hours passed. Prompto tried busying himself with glossy magazines spread around the room, Ignis' eyes meanwhile trained on his phone, while Gladiolus looked to be napping, but would shoot up from his chair any time a loud noise came from the bathroom. They all but stumbled out of their respective spots when the door finally did open, revealing the doctor looking a bit dishevelled, sleeves slightly damp. 

She mumbled something inaudible under her breath, before letting her eyes trail over the group of men. "He'll live," she eventually said, hands on her hips. "I administered something to get his fever down and help his system fight whatever is causing the fever; can't say for sure what. Usually I'd say it's some sort of infection or virus, but I can't be sure without any tests. I hooked him up to an IV just in case. Keep him cool throughout the night and see how he does in the morning. Call me again if his fever doesn't break until then." Ignis made to thank her, but was cut off by her raising her hand to stop him. "It's late and I want to sleep. I'll send the bill sometime tomorrow."

She was out the door before anyone could even get a word in, the door shutting behind her with a quiet thud, the sound of her heels clicking against the wooden floor slowly growing silent.

"Where did you find _her_?" Gladiolus suddenly asked, a small smile curling his lips.

Letting out a silent sigh, Ignis pushed his glasses up. "One of the waiters gave me her number. Apparently she's the one they call for medical emergencies, especially later in the day."

Only now did the two notice that Prompto was gone. They found him already in the bathroom fussing over Noctis, not touching him but still somehow managing to look like he was thoroughly checking him. For what, neither could tell. The blond only moved away from the tub when Ignis approached to feel the prince's forehead. The advisor heaved a relieved sigh when it felt much cooler than it had when they arrived.  

"I think we can put him back on the bed again."

Noctis was still running a pretty high fever, but at least it seemed like he wouldn't die from it anymore. And so the arduous task of getting Noctis out of the tub, dressed and into the bed began. Prompto managed to slip on the increasingly wet floor several times, Ignis just barely catching himself on the sink. The entire time, they had to be mindful of the IV drip as well.

"Do we even have clean clothes for him?" Gladiolus suddenly asked, holding Noctis up as Ignis dried him off.

"Uh… I don't think so." Prompto shot a surprised look at Ignis, seemingly puzzled at how they could have forgotten something so simple. "You gotta have something somewhere."

Ignis shook his head, looking conflicted. "We haven't stopped at a motel for days, so I never got the chance to wash anything."

Noctis forcing them to keep fighting for days on end without rest had come back to bite them in the ass in the weirdest way. 

"Oh!" Glee taking over his face, Prompto suddenly dashed away, leaving the hotel room and his rapid footfalls disappearing into the night almost immediately. 

"2000 gil he's gonna come back with some kinda ridiculous outfit," Gladiolus chuckled, already laying Noctis down on the bed, the prince still wrapped in several thick towels.

After rolling the IV up to the bed, Ignis placed a few cold compresses on Noctis' body, before plopping down into an armchair, hand coming up to rest against the side of his face. "That is not a bet I'm willing to take."

"3000 it's gonna be chocobo yellow." 

A small smirk appeared on Ignis' face, some of the tension leaving it. "Certainly not something the king of Lucis would ever be seen wearing."

By the time they heard Prompto come back, he was already bursting through the door. "I found it!" he yelled triumphantly, waving around a bright yellow t-shirt. "I bought this two weeks ago in Lestallum! Look, it has a chocobo face on the front," He held the shirt to his own torso, showing off the cartoon chocobo face, "and a chocobo butt on the back!" He almost didn't give the other two time to look properly, constantly turning the shirt around and around, bouncing on the spot. "It's for some kinda event. Not sure what. These were almost sold out! I think they're limited edition or something!" 

"Since you were the one to find the shirt," Gladiolus cut in before Prompto could ramble on, letting out a satisfied groan when he fell into an armchair next to Ignis, "you get the great honour of dressing the prince. Make sure to follow protocol."

"Pro… Proto– Wha– But I–" Panicking now, Prompto turned to Ignis. "What protocol?! What?" He seemed to confuse himself, sputtering and looking like he was utterly lost. 

Sighing, Ignis took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "There is no protocol."

That left Prompto standing in the middle of the room with a chocobo shirt and the challenging task of putting that shirt on an unconscious Noctis. He eventually sighed and sat down next to Noctis on the huge bed, having trouble even just getting him sat up. More than once he almost lost his grip on the still slightly wet prince, cursing under his breath as he struggled to even just pull the shirt over his head. He eventually succeeded in getting Noctis fully dressed and silently raised his arms in victory, too tired to vocalise his joy. After reapplying all the cold compresses Ignis had put on him, Prompto finally left Noctis' side and crumpled onto the carpet in front of Ignis' and Gladiolus' chairs. "So who's gonna watch him all night?" 

"I need my beauty sleep," Gladiolus immediately replied flatly, eyes trained on the camping magazine Prompto had been reading earlier.

"I suggest we take shifts." Ignis glanced at the wall clock, looking to be already scheduling their respective shifts. "I don't mind taking the first one. I'd like to keep an eye on him while his fever is still high."

Gladiolus chuckled to himself, eyes never leaving the magazine. "Be honest: you're just gonna watch him all night and never wake any of us up. As if your neurotic ass would ever leave a sick Noctis out of your sight."

Ignis looked a bit stunned, but didn't deny the words. 

It went exactly as Gladiolus predicted: Ignis stayed up the entire night, constantly switching out the cold compresses on Noctis' body and closely monitoring his fever until it finally broke in the early morning. By then, Ignis' back was sore, joints popping when he stood up straight for the first time in hours. He lifted his arms over his head in a stretch just as the first rays of sunlight peaked over the horizon and lit up the still ocean. It dragged a sigh out of Ignis, who decided to get some coffee in him before he did anything else. With one last look at Noctis, he changed into a set of clean clothes and left, the door clicking softly behind him.

The sound roused Gladiolus, who slowly opened his eyes, stretched lazily and nearly knocked Prompto off the queen size bed they were sharing. He carefully left the bed, trying not to wake the softly snoring blond. Immediately, he was at Noctis' side, eyes roaming over his still form. Ignis was gone, which to him was a clear indicator that Noctis was doing fine. The cold compresses were all gone as well, so Noctis was left in Prompto's shirt and some briefs. Yawning, Gladiolus pulled up a chair to the bed and proceeded to watch Noctis. With Ignis gone, it was his turn anyway. 

He stayed like that for a long time, watching the steady rise and fall of the prince's chest and noting the red blotches across his cheeks. His phone buzzing eventually caught his attention. It was a text from Ignis, saying he would be going shopping for things to help Noctis recover. Face grim, Gladiolus dropped his phone back onto the night table next to the bed, going back to watching Noctis. 

Noticing how long Noctis' bangs in particular were getting, Gladiolus reached out and fingered a few strands of the deep black hair. He suddenly remembered the time Noctis had cut his own hair a few years ago, too fed up with having to style it every morning before school. It had been a disaster and he had looked like an entirely different person, hair not quite short, but also not particularly long. It had been messy and choppy in the oddest ways, sticking out in weird places. Luckily, Ignis had been able to save it somehow. From then on, Noctis only ever let Ignis touch his hair; the same way he had since he was a child.  

A grimace suddenly appeared on Noctis' face, eyelids beginning to flutter. Gladiolus watched with a growing smile as Noctis finally opened his eyes, already looking disgruntled and annoyed at being awake.

"What time is it?" he mumbled, hand coming up to rub over his eyes.

"Around five," Gladiolus chuckled. "You gonna go back to sleep?"

Noctis nodded, eyes already closed as he turned onto his side and away from Gladiolus. Suddenly, he stumbled to sit upright and tiredly stared at Gladiolus with a certain urgency to his expression. "Wait, I…"

"What's up?" Gladiolus sounded casual, but secretly he was waiting to see if Noctis would collapse or something. He still didn't look too hot, face pale and cheeks flushed, sweat pearling on his forehead.

"I just…" Noctis paused for a long time, looking to have trouble organising his thoughts. He seemed confused by his own mind, genuine bewilderment in his eyes. "I just wanted to apologise… I guess."

A smirk formed on the bodyguard's face, a small chuckle bubbling up from his throat. "You mean for chasing us around the desert for three days straight and not letting us rest the entire time?"

"Well, that too, but…" He seemed to search Gladiolus' face for a second, like the answers were laid out in his scarred features. "I feel like I need to apologise to _you_ specifically. Like I did you wrong somehow."

"What?" Now, Gladiolus shared the looked of confusion. "Why would you need to apologise to me? Nothing happened between us, did it?"

"I… I just… feel like I did… or said something horrible to you?"

"Were you dreaming or something?"

The words made Noctis freeze, eyes suddenly trained on the floor as realisation seemed to hit him. "Yeah, probably."

Noting the sudden drop in mood, Gladiolus grabbed the prince's head and ruffled his hair until it was even messier than before. "Well, thanks, I guess." He finally released the prince from his hold, watching with a grin as Noctis pouted and tried and failed to tidy up his hair. "You're still gonna be a brat by the time you're thirty, so I expect to be annoyed by you for a long time."

"Hey…" Noctis protested weakly, clearly aware that him and Gladiolus probably would butt heads on occasion for the rest of their lives. They were two very different people, contrasting each other in many ways. But that was also why they worked so well together. Where Gladiolus was powerful and sturdy, Noctis was fast and quick-witted. They complemented each other not just in battle but in life as well. Noctis would brood and spend hours with his own thoughts, while Gladiolus would say things outright, forcing Noctis to share what he would usually hide from everyone else. 

"You worry too much," Gladiolus suddenly spoke up, noticing the far away look in Noctis' eyes. It was a look he was seeing more and more often on the prince's face lately and it meant nothing good. Instead of replying, Noctis simply looked at him, eyes unusually earnest, yet guarded. "Just concentrate on _now_. You think about the future way too much."

"Now?" The concept seemed foreign to the prince, even the word sounding odd in his mouth. A smile suddenly flashed over his features, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "What if _now_ doesn't exist?"

The question almost made Gladiolus laugh, but he refrained from making some kind of snarky comment. "Does it matter if it does or not?"

Despite the somewhat silly nature of their conversation, Noctis looked unusually solemn. "I guess it doesn't." He smiled, genuinely this time. It was small, but at least it was there. "Thanks."

Gladiolus' grin widened, the impulse to ruffle Noctis' hair again making his hand twitch. "Don't know what I did, but you're welcome." He ended up attacking Noctis' bed hair again.

"Stooooop," Noctis groaned, sounding like a frustrated child in his attempt to get Gladiolus' hands off him.

His protesting made Gladiolus bark out loud laughter, waking Prompto, who shot out of bed and nearly toppled over the edge of the bed. Once he had rubbed the sleep from his eyes and assessed the situation, the blond had his hands in Noctis' hair before the prince even realised what was going on. 

Ignis came back with a bag of groceries, only to find an all out brawl, pillows and blankets spread around the entire room, Prompto screeching from the bathroom, Gladiolus in the process of chasing him, only to have a door smack him in the face. Meanwhile Noctis was still lying on his bed, although he was wrapped into a blanket so tightly he couldn't move any of his limbs. Only his head stuck out, essentially making him one big blanket burrito with horrific bed hair. 

Usually, Ignis would have gotten exasperated at the very least, but it was honestly too early to be lecturing anyone, especially after the sleepless night he had had. When Noctis sent him a pleading look, he set down his groceries and made to free the prince from his prison. He pretended like he couldn't hear Gladiolus yelling at Prompto through the bathroom door.

"Don't ever put your fingers near my ass _ever_ again!" 

* * *

The sun ruthlessly beat down on the dry, cracked soil of the desert. The road cutting through the rocky land was hot enough you could cook an egg on it.

"Aaaaaaaagh, my throat is so dry!" Prompto crumbled where he had been standing leaned against the Regalia's trunk, falling onto the hot street with his limbs splayed out in all directions.

Sighing, Ignis briefly took off his glasses to wipe a bead of sweat from his temple. "We still have a ways to go until Hammerhead." He tried again to turn the keys in the ignition, but the Regalia sputtered for a moment before the engine went dead. They were stuck here.

"We're gonna die out here, I swear!" Prompto immediately complained. "Barely out of Insomnia and already we're doomed!"

Sitting down next to the blond, Noctis shrugged. "It's closer than you think."

"How would you know?" Gladiolus grumbled, frustration visible in his scarred features. "You've never even left Insomnia before."

He received no answer, Noctis barely having enough energy to shrug, never mind the fact Gladiolus couldn't even see him from where he stood.

"We could always try hitching a ride," the bodyguard continued. 

"Or we could hide under the car until the sun is gone." Prompto said this while trying to squeeze his head under the Regalia.

"Oh yeah, let me just squeeze my 500 pound ass under the infinite chasms that are the endless space under the fucking car." Again, Gladiolus received no response. He grumbled something under his breath, eyebrows furrowing into a frown, before half-heartedly raising a fist to try and hitchhike when he saw a car approaching.

It was the first car to come down this road in about half an hour. Who knows? Maybe this was finally their saviour, here to save them from this unbearable heat.

The car drove past them. It didn't even slow down.

"I suppose we can forget about hitching," Ignis said, cleaning his glasses.

A few joints popped loudly when Gladiolus rolled his head from side to side, stretching lazily. "Thought people were friendlier outside the city."

"Well, you can only count so far on the kindness of strangers."

"Guess we'll just have to push her."

"Yeah, you'll have to do the pushing without me," Prompto immediately threw in, still laying spread-eagle on the road. "I've already pushed myself to the brink of death." Glancing to his side, all the blonde found was a motionless Noctis, the prince entirely dead to the world.

Letting out a sharp sigh, Gladiolus pushed himself away from the car and walked towards the back of the car, where the two were trying to savour the little bit of shade the car provided. "Come on, get off your royal ass and help move the car," he said to Noctis, flicking the side of the prince's head and making him groan. When Prompto stayed motionless, he kicked the blonde's boot. "You too, Prompto."

"Isn't the car supposed to move us?" Prompto complained, slowly struggling to get to his feet and stumbling. "What's up with this universe defying logic!"

Noctis was having just as much trouble keeping his eyes open. "Yeah, agreed, what's up with that."

"Shut up and just do it," Gladiolus grumbled, glaring and waiting until the two were finally standing and ready to push the car. "Come on, ready… steady… push!"

Within a few seconds, they were all sweating buckets, tiny droplets of sweat hitting the road and almost immediately evaporating into steam. 

"Gladio…" Prompto suddenly forced out through clenched teeth, "can't you just… use your 500 pound ass to push this car on your own."

"Oh, shut up," the man bit back, unable to hide the amused smirk from his face. "I could pull an Ignis and just sit in the car watching you die trying to get this car to move."

"Would you rather have Prompto behind the wheel?" Ignis shot back.

"Hey!" the blond in question squawked indignantly. "I'm a _great_ driver!"

"Says the guy who _crashed the car yesterday_ ," Gladiolus barked. 

They were both silenced by a poorly concealed chuckle, eyes turning to Noctis, who seemed surprised at the sudden attention. "What?"

"What's so funny?" Gladiolus asked, looking genuinely puzzled. Noctis was the usually the one to join in on the bickering, not the one laughing to himself from the sidelines.

"Nothing, just…" The prince's eyes very briefly flicked from person to person, a small smile forming on his dirt-smeared face. "Just glad I'm finally out of Insomnia for once. With you guys."

Obviously, that wasn't the answer any of them had expected. But somehow they seemed to understand, grinning back at the prince and bombarding him with teasing jokes immediately. 

Noctis could be unreadable and hard to deal with sometimes, but at their core, they all understood the many different facets of him. They all dealt with him differently, interpreted his words and actions differently. They all looked at him with different eyes. Still, what they all had in common was their undying will to protect Noctis, not just because he was the future king, but also because he was simply _Noctis_.

In an ideal world, they could have been normal friends going on a road trip to celebrate the marriage of one of their own.

In an ideal world, they wouldn't have to carry around weapons, ready for battle at all times.

In an ideal world, this road trip would never end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be me trying to deal with the ending of FFXV… I'm not sure if this made it better or worse. 
> 
> I understand if this ending isn't as cut and dry as some people may want it to be, but this story was supposed to end like this all along. I'm curious if anyone has theories about what exactly is going on, because I left that vague and up to interpretation on purpose. If anyone has theories or thinks they have it figured out, please let me know in a comment!
> 
> To anyone who wants to see Prompto harassing Gladio's butt: http://68.media.tumblr.com/84076967233c2eef2813ecffc6bd2672/tumblr_ojwhxgkxdg1u4xitgo1_400.gif
> 
> Once again, thank you for all the kudos and comments! It was amazing to upload something longer for the first time in years and get such a warm response. Hopefully the ending isn't too off-kilter for anyone.

**Author's Note:**

> Unless someone figures it out beforehand, I'll explain the title at the end of the final chapter. I'll be updating again in a week, so come back next Friday for the next chapter. Hope you've enjoyed this so far!


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